Obituary for Janet Russell (Frick)
Janet E. Russell, 88, of Gilbert, PA, beloved mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend, crossed over to glory on April 25. Born in Worcester, MA, on April 14, 1934, to parents Gilbert R. and Dorothy E. Frick, Janet spent her childhood in the Riverside neighborhood of Buffalo, NY, graduating from Riverside HS and earning, in 1956, a Bachelor of Science degree with a specialization in early childhood education from Buffalo State Teachers College. In 1957, she married her high school sweetheart, Richard H. (Dick) Russell, and in 1960 they moved to the home they had built together with her parents and sister, Carole Lee, in Clarence, NY.
There, Janet and Dick opened their hearts and lives to family and friends, creating memories and forging bonds through their gourmet meals, game nights, parties, and swim extravaganzas. The house and yard echoed daily with laughter, noise, schnauzers, and love.
Janet taught at the elementary school level before giving her time over to raising two daughters, Dianna and Robin. However, she never abandoned her dreams of nurturing other young children. Her proudest achievement came after her girls were older, when she became head teacher -- and then owner/director -- of Four Seasons Day Care Center in Amherst, NY. With a staff of 30 people and serving as many as 100 children a day, the center reflected Janet’s warm, loving, and vibrant dedication to the needs of children and to their education. Dick, who had since retired from a lifetime of teaching, acting, directing, and music, took on new roles as office assistant, handyman, consultant, and cheerleader to his wife’s success.
When Janet sold the business, in 1996, she and Dick made the decision to buy a 40-foot trawler, which they christened La Bohéme. Their first adventure was navigating it from the Chesapeake down the Intracoastal Waterway to Vero Beach and then to Fort Pierce, Florida. From there, they spent the next five years “living aboard” in style and entertaining a host of family members and friends, still cooking gourmet meals, but now in their very small galley, and spreading feasts on their aft sundeck for all to share.
When, in 2001, Dick died after a short illness, Janet moved north to Pennsylvania where she took up residence with her daughter Dianna and shared in raising Dianna’s two children, Jeremy and McKenna. Janet also helped nurture dozens of other young people during her time living in Gilbert, serving as a sounding board, confidant, soft shoulder, and surrogate mother and grandmother to a host of children and teenagers who will remember her as the kindest and most empathetic of listeners. In Florida, Janet had the good fortune to inherit two wonderful new grandchildren when her daughter Robin married Robert Votaw. Alexa and Zac were the beneficiaries of her love and care when she visited them on her frequent trips south.
Janet was a Christian in the truest sense of the word, caring for others above herself and putting the needs of the downtrodden before her own. She attended Salem United Church of Christ in Gilbert and served as President of Council for several years, working tirelessly to ensure its missions were met. She also supported PVEN and other charitable organizations in her spare time.
Janet will be best remembered for her devotion to her husband, to her daughters Dianna Russell (Peter Ward) of Gilbert, and Robin Votaw (Robert) of Vero Beach, to her grandchildren Jeremy Sickels (Alexandra DiTullio) of Brooklyn, McKenna Ebeling (Michael) of Bethlehem, Alexa DeLisle (Kevin) of Palm Bay, FL, and Zachary Votaw of Vero Beach, and to her great grandchildren Carson, Zoey, and Piper DeLisle. She also adored and was adored by her sister, Carole Sinclair (Michael) of Tonawanda, NY, her nephew Keith Taylor (Carolyn) of Erie, PA, her niece Beth McCarty (Douglas) of Buffalo, and Keith and Beth’s respective children, Matthew, David, and Daniel of Erie, and Kinley and Zack of Buffalo.
A celebration of Janet’s life will take place June 25 at 1:00 at Salem U.C.C. in Gilbert. A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. A reception will follow in the fellowship hall. Interment will take place privately. Contributions in Janet’s name can be made to Heifer International (“equipping communities with sustainable tools that enable them to provide for themselves”), Camp Papillon Animal Shelter, any charity that supports children, or LVHN Pocono Hospice.
There, Janet and Dick opened their hearts and lives to family and friends, creating memories and forging bonds through their gourmet meals, game nights, parties, and swim extravaganzas. The house and yard echoed daily with laughter, noise, schnauzers, and love.
Janet taught at the elementary school level before giving her time over to raising two daughters, Dianna and Robin. However, she never abandoned her dreams of nurturing other young children. Her proudest achievement came after her girls were older, when she became head teacher -- and then owner/director -- of Four Seasons Day Care Center in Amherst, NY. With a staff of 30 people and serving as many as 100 children a day, the center reflected Janet’s warm, loving, and vibrant dedication to the needs of children and to their education. Dick, who had since retired from a lifetime of teaching, acting, directing, and music, took on new roles as office assistant, handyman, consultant, and cheerleader to his wife’s success.
When Janet sold the business, in 1996, she and Dick made the decision to buy a 40-foot trawler, which they christened La Bohéme. Their first adventure was navigating it from the Chesapeake down the Intracoastal Waterway to Vero Beach and then to Fort Pierce, Florida. From there, they spent the next five years “living aboard” in style and entertaining a host of family members and friends, still cooking gourmet meals, but now in their very small galley, and spreading feasts on their aft sundeck for all to share.
When, in 2001, Dick died after a short illness, Janet moved north to Pennsylvania where she took up residence with her daughter Dianna and shared in raising Dianna’s two children, Jeremy and McKenna. Janet also helped nurture dozens of other young people during her time living in Gilbert, serving as a sounding board, confidant, soft shoulder, and surrogate mother and grandmother to a host of children and teenagers who will remember her as the kindest and most empathetic of listeners. In Florida, Janet had the good fortune to inherit two wonderful new grandchildren when her daughter Robin married Robert Votaw. Alexa and Zac were the beneficiaries of her love and care when she visited them on her frequent trips south.
Janet was a Christian in the truest sense of the word, caring for others above herself and putting the needs of the downtrodden before her own. She attended Salem United Church of Christ in Gilbert and served as President of Council for several years, working tirelessly to ensure its missions were met. She also supported PVEN and other charitable organizations in her spare time.
Janet will be best remembered for her devotion to her husband, to her daughters Dianna Russell (Peter Ward) of Gilbert, and Robin Votaw (Robert) of Vero Beach, to her grandchildren Jeremy Sickels (Alexandra DiTullio) of Brooklyn, McKenna Ebeling (Michael) of Bethlehem, Alexa DeLisle (Kevin) of Palm Bay, FL, and Zachary Votaw of Vero Beach, and to her great grandchildren Carson, Zoey, and Piper DeLisle. She also adored and was adored by her sister, Carole Sinclair (Michael) of Tonawanda, NY, her nephew Keith Taylor (Carolyn) of Erie, PA, her niece Beth McCarty (Douglas) of Buffalo, and Keith and Beth’s respective children, Matthew, David, and Daniel of Erie, and Kinley and Zack of Buffalo.
A celebration of Janet’s life will take place June 25 at 1:00 at Salem U.C.C. in Gilbert. A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. A reception will follow in the fellowship hall. Interment will take place privately. Contributions in Janet’s name can be made to Heifer International (“equipping communities with sustainable tools that enable them to provide for themselves”), Camp Papillon Animal Shelter, any charity that supports children, or LVHN Pocono Hospice.