Janet Fay Sturholm was a devoted mother, grandmother and dear friend. She loved spending time in nature, hiking, biking and adventuring all over the world. She took every chance she could to create and find new experiences in life.
Janet was born June 14th, 1937 in Spokane, Washington to Elva and Robert Wood. She became a big sister to Judy seven years later. The family moved to Portland, Oregon when Janet was still young and then eventually settled in Sweet home, Oregon.
It was in Sweet home where Janet found the love of her life, Phillip Leroy Sturholm. They met in high school; the cheerleader and the captain of the football team. Janet and Phil were married on August 30, 1958, beginning what would be an extraordinary life together. They spent their first years of marriage in a tiny trailer, saving money while Phil attended Oregon State University. Then the couple moved to Independence, Missouri, where Janet got a taste of military-wife life.
Their next adventure was parenthood. Their firstborn, Phil David Sturholm, was born in August of 1961 and shortly after they returned to the Pacific Northwest to settle down in the Seattle area. Their daughter Suzan “Suzi” Fay Sturholm was born June of 1964. Janet loved being a mom. She immersed herself in her children’s activities, including Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, CCD, and sporting events. The family took many trips together, exploring the United States and the Pacific Northwest.
As busy as she was with motherhood, Janet still found time to explore. She loved running, biking all hiking. Her greatest achievement by far was summiting Mount Rainier in 1979. She also summited Mount Fuji in 1980, Half Dome (Yosemite) in 1985, backpacked nearly the entire Wonderland Trail, the Alps in Switzerland and Austria, the Milford Track in New Zealand, and many more local hikes with the Mountaineering Club. Hiking was Janet’s other “love of her life”.
She and Phil also traveled extensively. Thailand, China, Japan, Egypt, India, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Australia, New Zealand, and several European countries. They saw their fair share of the United States, too. Yet Janet would always find herself back at Mount Rainier on her birthday, just to say hello to “her” mountain.
Janet worked for Nordstrom from 1984 – 2004, starting her career working as a Sally Brown, which was a personal shopper at the Walnut Creek, California store.. She then moved to the Savvy department before moving back to Seattle and working in the corporate office. She ran the Email Help Desk in the late 80’s,and then became and specialist with their new Nixdorf POS system and traveled around the country opening Nordstrom stores and installing all the POS Cash registers in the stores. Very impressive for someone who had did not have a degree or was a computer specialist in any way.
Another adventure for Janet was becoming Granny. Jessica Gamba, born 1995, Aaron Sturholm 1998, and Travis Sturholm 1999 became the lights of her life. Camping trips, train rides to Canada, numerous overnights at Paradise Lodge at Mount Rainier, Children’s Theater plays, sporting events, school concerts, and honorary babysitting duty were how Janet earned her self- proclaimed title “Adventure Granny!”.
Janet lived a full life, surrounded by friends and family. She had a strong Catholic faith and dedicated much of her later years to the Diaper Bag Project at her home parish, St. Brendan’s Catholic Church. There was never a dull moment in Janet’s life, she made sure of it. Her family agrees that when she passed, it was Phil who came to get her: “Let’s get going, Janny Fay!” They are confident that he was eager to show her the best buffet Heaven has to offer.
Janet is survived by her sister Judy, son Phil and daughter Suzan and her grandchildren Jessica, Aaron, and Travis.
Be at peace, Janet. Your love and joy of life touched so many of us. We will never stop loving you.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the National Parks in memory of Janet. Thank you!
