Janice Marilyn Friess, 88, of Rippey passed away peacefully at her home on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024, with her daughters by her side.
Janice was born in Auburn, Iowa, on March 5, 1935, to Edwin and Zillah (Mowry) Spafford.
Her youth was filled with reading and farm life, which she loved. She fondly recalled sitting at the barn one day when a cow started licking her until her shirt was nearly pulled off!
Another time her dad came in, interrupted her reading and set her at the helm of their two-horse team while he and her two brothers did the harvesting. Jan was grounded in practicality and wisdom.
Life had its ups and downs in her adult life until a family enveloped her and invited her to a new church. It was there that she found the love of her savior and a new refreshing, reviving life in Jesus Christ. From that day forward, Jan remained a faithful servant of God.
Living at her home in Rippey with her husband, Don, their children brought forth grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who were her great joy and fulfillment. Jan took great interest in whatever interested them. In each of those lives, while sitting at her dining room table, she listened and offered words of wisdom and depth of faith, with the Bible itself at the center.
Jan’s interests included reading, T.V. and movies — anything with a good story. She loved home and yard work and enjoyed her independence greatly. She kept herself busy with cleaning and making repairs in clever ways and with knitting, crocheting and quilting at the church next door.
She was employed at a few places, but her favorite and most long-term employment was at Alco in Perry.
As of late, news and politics became of great concern, about which she shared her opinions. The stuff of life was exciting to her, and she would’ve kept on living and enjoying it if only she could.
Janice was preceded in death by her parents Edwin and Zillah; husband, Donald; and siblings, Eugene Spafford, Daniel (Betty) Spafford and Barbara (John) Snyder.
Those left to cherish Janice’s memory are her three children, Richard (Teresa) Friess, Rhonda Kiner and Diane (Rich) Pearson; as well as her step-sons, Nick and Claude Friess, and their families; her grandchildren, Jenny (Steve), Ang (Jonathan), Matthew (Katie), Adam James, Brian (Dara) and Heather (Shawn); her great-grandchildren, Alanah (Brian), Ethan, Wes, Harper, Sawyer, Layne, Julia, Skylar, Aryanna, Matthew and Xzavier; and “the little kid,” her great-great-grandson, Rylan.
A visitation for Janice will be held from 10-11 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29 at the Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home-Perry Chapel, with a service beginning at 11 a.m. Burial will take place at a later date at the Rippey Cemetery. Online condolences for the family can be made at caldwellparrish.com.
