Janet Drake, age 70, of Valley City, ND, died Tuesday, March 26th at Bethany on University in Fargo, ND. An educator until the end, Jan’s wish was to bequeath her body to the Deeded Body Program at UND for anatomical study. Visitation will be held on Friday, April 26th from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM at the Lerud Mathias Funeral Home and one hour before the mass on Saturday morning. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Friday evening at the funeral home. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at 11:00 AM on Saturday, April 27th at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Valley City. Visitation will be held one hour before the Mass at the church on Saturday morning.
Janet was born on January 21, 1949 in Devils Lake, ND. She attended Devils Lake Central High School and graduated in 1967. Following high school, she traveled to Hawaii and the western United States. After her travel she enrolled at Lake Region Junior College in the fall of 1968. Janet married James Michael Drake on January 31, 1970 at St. Joseph’s Catholic church in Devils Lake, ND. Her and James started a family and moved to Harvey, ND. Janet worked as a mother and a clerk at St. Aloysius Hospital in Harvey. Following a separation and later a divorce, Jan moved her 3 boys to Grand Forks, ND to continue her education at the University of North Dakota in 1980. She graduated in the spring of 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in Education and immediately enrolled in Graduate school and later graduated with a Master of Arts in Education in the spring of 1985. In the fall of that year she accepted a job at Valley City State University working in the Academic Services office and serving as an Adjunct professor for the University. After 30 years as an educator she retired in 2015. Mom was passionate about many things in her life, but particularly her grandchildren, her sons, her students, being outdoors and all things Men’s Fighting Sioux hockey. It was a rare occasion when we would visit and all the radios in the house, the TV’s and the computer all had the game on.
Janet is survived by her three sons, Jason Matthew Drake of Fargo, ND, Justin Myles Drake of Litchville, ND, Joshua Mychal Drake of Fargo, ND. Three grandchildren, Tyler Mychal Heagley of Dilworth, MN, Jensen Kathleen Drake and Connor Matthews Drake of Fargo, ND.
Janet is proceeded in death by her parents, Lawrence Vincent Kalinowski and Theresa May (Ryan) Kalinowski; grandparents August Kalinowski and Theresa (Hill) Kalinowski, and Joseph Ryan and Emma (Ziebarth) Ryan and ex-husband James Micheal Drake.
The family would ask, in tribute to Janet, that all people who attend her celebration of life wear an accent of the color red, please no pink, if you knew Jan you will understand.