Janice Meyer

Janice Marion Meyer was born on May 30, 1922, in St. Louis, MO, the first child of Homer and Edith (Roenfeldt) Givens. She was baptized and confirmed at Grace Lutheran Church in St. Louis.

Jan met Arthur Meyer, a Concordia, St. Louis, Lutheran Seminary student, on a young adult outing through Grace Lutheran Church. They were married on July 15, 1945, in St. Louis, MO. (in those days, Seminary students had to wait until they graduated before they could marry - Jan and Art always said that he was the first one of his graduation class to marry!). They were blessed with a marriage that lasted for 57 ½ years, until Art died in 2003. Jan and Art had four children (in three years!): twins Jeanne (Richard Stotler) and Joanne (called to glory in 1993), Paul (Rose Ann), and Lois. They were blessed with six grandchildren: Jeff (Ellen) Stotler; Kristine (John) Caldwell; Elizabeth Meyer; Christina (Joshua) Davis; Catherine Meyer; and Karen Meyer. They were further blessed with eight great grandchildren (Ava, Cal, Kara, Laney, Izzy, Ester, Isaac, and Barrett). Jan is also survived by her siblings Eunice Ewing and Robert (Norma) Givens.

Jan and Art shared a varied, international, and rewarding ministry. Serving first in Davenport, Iowa, they then served a congregation in Hot Springs, SD, before Art joined the Air Force as a chaplain. Art was then stationed at Parks Air Force Base, California, before being sent to South Korea at the end of the Korean War. Jan and the kids split time living with relatives between Milwaukee and Alabama while Art served in Korea. After being stationed again in California, Art left active duty but remained in the Reserves, when he accepted a call to Trinity Lutheran Church in St. Joseph, Michigan. After 2 ½ years there, Art accepted a call to Redeemer Lutheran Church in Balboa, Canal Zone. Overseas calls seemed to be where God called Jan and Art - they left the Canal Zone after 6 years, spent several years in Michigan and on the East Coast, then accepted calls to Lutheran Churches in the Philippines and South Korea. After returning from South Korea, Art served Lutheran Churches in the Virginia Beach area of the state of Virginia.

Jan was a very gracious, welcoming lady who was the perfect "Pastor's wife." Together Jan and Art welcomed young GI's and others to their homes on the East Coast, the Panama Canal Zone, the Philippines, and Korea. Their home was always open to visitors and family. Jan was very artistically talented, very intelligent, and loved her position as librarian at the Quarry Heights Library in the Canal Zone. Later, as administrative assistant to a high administrator at Ferris State College in Michigan, she was known to be his invaluable "grammar corrector," who determined when any letter or document was ready to leave the office over his signature. In Virginia, she displayed her talent for fashion design by becoming the most successful salesperson at a lovely women's apparel store.

The Heavenly Father called Jan home on Oct 31, 2016 (the anniversary of her daughter Joanne's death), at the age of 94 years. A life lived in service to God has been transformed into the celebration of life with her God, and with her cherished husband and daughter.