Janice "Jan" M. Mitchell, 89

A Celebration of Life for Janice “Jan” Mitchell, age 89, of Ainsworth and formerly of O’Neill, was held on Monday, February 16, at Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill. Jim Wakefield officiated.

Janice passed away on Friday, February 13, at the Brown County Hospital in Ainsworth.

Memorials may be directed to her family for future designation. Arrangements are entrusted to Biglin’s Mortuary in O’Neill.

Janice M . Mitchell w as b orn o n O ctober 1 9, 1936, i n H oldrege t o H arry a nd E velyn (Sutherland) Palmer. She grew up on the family farm southeast of Elm Creek, where she learned the value of hard work. Her family worked hard during the depression to keep food on the table. This taught Janice the value of a dollar at a young age. After graduating from Elm Creek High School, she attended Kearney State College where she earned her bachelor's degree. After graduation, Janice got a job working for R.E.A. in Lexington.

On New Year's Eve 1957, she was set up on a blind date, and little did she know she would meet the love of her life, Gordon Mitchell. He was working for Northwestern Bell Telephone in Lexington. After a great blind date, the two started seeing each other. Gordon would stop into the R.E.A. office to see Janice and she quickly realized all the other women working there were noticing her 'handsome telephone lineman'. J anice's d ad, H arry, w as a s tern m an w ho b elieved i n t he value of hard work. He was impressed with Gordon and approved of his work ethic and approved of him dating Janice.

Gordon r eceived h is d raft n otice i n t he f all o f 1 958 a nd w hen h e returned from bootcamp, he proposed to Janice. She accepted his proposal because she loved her lineman so much and didn't want him to get away going to the army. They were married on December 27, 1958, in Elm Creek and then headed to Fort Benning, Georgia, where Gordon served his military obligations and Janice worked for an Army Colonel. U pon d ischarge, they m oved b ack t o N ebraska a nd l ived i n Fullerton where Gordon continued his career with the phone company. In 1961 they started their family with the birth of their son Stuart. In 1964 their son Bruce was born, and in 1969 Janice gave birth t o h er daughter A udra. I n 1 964 they a lso m oved t o O 'Neill, where they raised their family.

Janice's mother always called her Janice. When they moved to O'Neill, she shortened i t to Jan. Jan w as a w onderful stay-at-home mom and focused her life on raising their three children. She was involved in all of t heir s chool a ctivities a nd s erved a s a classroom m other m any times. She w as a lso a Cub S cout d en m other. T hroughout t he s chool careers of all three children, Jan was happy to volunteer and help with any activity necessary. Bake sales were a main stay in school fundraising and Jan was known for her homemade cinnamon rolls. Once her cinnamon roll reputation was known, her donation never made it to the bake sale table. They were always spoken for ahead of time by someone in the community. Having grown up on a farm, her mother t aught h er t o b e a g reat c ook all a round. H er f amily w as blessed to be well fed always.

Her g reatest joy w as a h appy f amily a nd s he w as t hrilled w ith h er children's successes in school and in life. After all three children had graduated high school, Jan went to work at a local flower shop. She loved the customers and always loved flowers. She enjoyed her working career and actually retired twice. She retired from the shop, until the next Valentine's Day came around and then she went back to 'help out' through the holiday and well past that. After retirement, Jan and Gordon enjoyed their time together attending auctions, antiquing, fishing, and spending time with family.

Anyone who knew Jan knew she was a kind, loving, Christian woman with a laugh that brightened the room when you heard it. S he never knew a stranger. She enjoyed meeting new people and getting to know them in almost any setting. Her faith and her relationship with God strengthened her every day. She stayed strong in her faith and was a great prayer warrior for people.

Her husband and her children were blessed with a very special person sharing their lives, teaching them, loving them, and encouraging them every day. As a mother, her love was strong and constant. In her final conversation with her children, before she passed away, she told them how much she loved them, and told them she expects them to 'do something good to help people everyday'. That was Jan, in a nutshell. Her family will miss her terribly.

Jan i s s urvived by h er s on S tuart; s on B ruce and w ife L esa; a granddaughter L ayne a nd h er f riend Z ach w ith h is s on B eckham; a grandson A.J. a nd h is w ife K arly ( who a re e xpecting J an's f irst great-grandchild in May); and daughter Audra, with granddaughter Reagan.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Harry and Evelyn Palmer; her in-laws Harry and Lois Hatfield; her brother Larry; and her loving husband Gordon.