Janet Shodin Obituary

Janet Faye Kendall Shodin passed peacefully on February 5, 2022, at the age of 84. She was born at home in Dunlap, Kansas to William Earle Kendall and Phyllis Cowles Kendall on December 12, 1937. Her birth was at the end of the depression and dust bowl years and the family had been hit hard so they sold their small country store and headed west when Janet was just six months old, eventually settling in Ontario, OR. Janet attended Ontario schools through ninth grade, but when her family moved to Heppner, OR for her dad's work, she ended up graduating from Heppner High School. Janet then returned to Payette, Idaho, living with her aunt and uncle to attend beauty school and afterwards worked in several salons as a hairdresser, which ultimately brought her to Dallas. It was while living in Ontario as a young child that she became friends with a girl her age named Darlene, whose mother was Breta. It turned out Breta was the much older sister of Barnhard Shodin, and Darlene was her niece. Darlene and Breta decided Janet and Barnhard would make a lovely couple and the match making began! In November of 1957, Janet moved to Dallas and the two began attending Trinity Lutheran Church together every Sunday and dating several times a week. Barnhard asked Janet to marry him on Easter in 1958 and they were married September 14, 1958. They celebrated 58 years of marriage before Barnhard passed away in March of 2017, most of those years were spent in the same house in Dallas.
Barnhard and Janet were blessed with three sons: James (Lorna), John (Lydia), and Carl (Karen). Their family continued to grow when the grandchildren started coming, seven in all; Rebecca, A.C. (Sabrina), Josh, Alisha (George), Timothy (Geneva), Christopher (Amanda), and Adam. They felt very blessed to be around to enjoy 11 great-grandchildren: Devin, Jayden, Jack, Alexander, Charlie, Randy, Henry, Katie, Barbara, Jean, Bella, and Alex. They were so happy and proud of all of them and worked very hard to keep up with every detail of their lives, from graduations to weddings, to births. They loved bragging about how beautiful the girls were or how they were graduating from college, or high school, promotions at work, or giving them another great-grandchild!
One could easily say Janet was a "professional mom!" She really did love children and had a knack for handling them well. In fact, after marrying Barnhard, they chose for her to stay home to be available for her children and active in their activities. To help make money for the family she provided daycare, mostly, as it turned out, for teachers in the Dallas schools. She loved all "her kids," and had so many gifts, pictures, and memorabilia from all of them. She retired in August 1997, a little over a year after Barnhard retired from Polk County Road Department after 42 years of employment. After retirement they joined the Polk About Good Sam club and traveled all over the United States, almost up until Barnhard passed away. She loved showing the pictures she took and telling stories. She once took about 10 rolls of film of just the red rock formations in Utah and Arizona. That was a snoozer, but she loved them!
Janet was also active in volunteer opportunities at Trinity Lutheran and other organizations, keeping herself and Barnhard always busy. She was an officer in the women's group at Trinity Lutheran Church many times, worked as the Wedding Coordinator for many years, did custodial services for a while, taught Sunday School, sang in the choir, and most recently was a member of the handbell choir. She served as an officer of the Good Sam organization and did numerous volunteer projects with them. She was a member of Thrivent (previously Lutheran Brotherhood) and organized and volunteered on projects with that group. While the boys were at home, she was a Cub Scout den mother for many years and served on the State Department of Education Title I committee. But her greatest accomplishment was being a cheerleader, nurse, chauffeur, accountant, jack-of-all-trades to three of the hardest working, most dedicated, loving, young men and sons one could ever know. She was also a good friend for life to those she befriended and would do whatever she could to help by visiting to play games, calling to talk and talk, going for walks, or driving to an appointment. Once a friend, always a friend.
Janet was preceded in death by her mother and father, her loving and devoted husband and best friend, Barnhard, her youngest sister Marilyn, and most recently she was there to greet her daughter-in-law, Lydia, as she joined the choir in Heaven February 10, 2022.