Janet Schuyler

I was born in 1955, and, being part of a Navy family, I moved around the country and to Japan, so the time I spent with my Aunt Janet in person was infrequent, but the memories of her are treasured. I have memories of being with her and Uncle Ches at their home in Glenside, my parent's home or on travels; memories of long letters that she wrote, and many stories that my mom, Lois (Janet's older sister), shared with me when I looked at photos in albums. When I learned that Aunt Janet had passed away on Saturday morning, July 14th, I thought of words to describe her: love, warmth, comfortable, down-to-earth, kind, beautiful singing, family, faith, giving, caring, fun, smiles, joy. I also smiled with memories of little tangible things like Aunt Janet's shoo-fly pie. I also thought of her lengthy letters (her "epistles" as she called them) that shared news of family, and how they were always hand-written (often with added notes written sideways up the edges of the paper) and of the family tree that she researched and kept up-to-date and shared with us all. Even recently she asked for updates on my children, Kimberly and Steven, asking when they would graduate from college, so she could add it to information on the tree.

She always remembered my birthday, sending a card that must've been specially chosen for me, as it was printed "to a niece" and usually had some bird or nature scene on it, as she knew those things especially interested me.

I pulled out my parents' and my own photograph albums, looking for photos of Aunt Janet, and I'd like to share some of those with you who are reading this page, so you can smile at the memories, too. You can click on the photos to view larger shots. These first two photos were taken in July 1944, and my dad, Roy, wrote that the photos were taken "near Sims Ranch, on the way to Tawas, Mich." The photo on the left Dad captioned "Sisters We" and shows my beautiful mom Lois in front, and Janet, with her fabulous smile, in the back. The photo below Dad captioned "Jan & Barbie", referring to my sister Barbara. Barb shared these thoughts with me recently: "She [Janet] always

called me Barbie even as an adult. It always reminded me of my childhood and it was a special nickname from her." The only ones in these photos were Dad, Mom, Janet and baby Barbie -- they were on their way to Bay City, Michigan. Look further down this page, on the quilt square Janet made, and you'll see "Bay City 44" on it).

The next photo on the left is dated November 1959, and I'm that little blonde 4-year-old girl in the center of the black and white photo. This photo perhaps was taken at Mom and Dad's home in Bethesda, Maryland (the quilt square has a "59" marked in the state of Maryland) but someone else may recognize it as a different house. I can only figure that Uncle Ches is taking the picture, since Janet's in it, and so is my dad, who's usually the fellow behind the camera. The folks in the photo are: (standing) my father Roy Anderson, Aunt Jean (in front of Roy), Dorothy Miller (a Graham girl), their daughter Donna, Janet Schuyler (partially hidden by Donna), Dorothy's husband David Miller, and my mother Lois Anderson. Sitting in chairs are Aunt Rae (holding me in her lap) and Lillian Mae Graham (mother of Janet, Dorothy and Lois) holding Ginny Schuyler. In front are my sister Barbara holding Connie Schuyler, and Judy Schuyler. The dog is Admiral (good Navy dog!). Family gatherings were filled with people and activity, and love. Family ties were really special and still are.

The color photo to the right shows the five "Graham girls" at a reunion at the Schuyler's home on May 20, 1972. Janet was the youngest of the Graham girls; in order from oldest to youngest they were Marguerite, Dorothy, Ruth, Lois and Janet.

To the left is a photo of when our family visited Aunt Janet and Uncle Ches and their family at their home in Glenside. My cousin Robbie had recently been born. I noticed that little white church in the background -- were there more than one of those, I wonder, because I have one, too. It is another memory of family celebrations for me. That little church lights up and has a wind-up key on the back to play "Silent Night".

Below are pictures from my Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary, celebrated at the Lawrence Welk Resort in Escondido on November 7, 1992. Janet and Ches came out -- what a special celebration! I had mailed blank white quilt squares of fabric to Mom and Dad's family and friends, which they decorated with fond memories, then mailed back to me. I then assembled them all into a quilt for Mom and Dad as a gift from all those people. What a treasure! The center photo below shows Mom and Dad holding up the quilt, with Janet (left) and Ches, Barbara and me (right) looking on.

The square that Aunt Janet made for the quilt is below. It shows many places and years, the memories of times together (I have more photos of some of those times, and will add later to this web page). Notice especially that Mom and Janet were maid and matron of honor for each others' weddings: RA + LG (Roy and Lois) in 1942, and CS + JG (Chester and Janet) in 1950. And just as she signs the square, I know that the love always is there.

Another wonderful time spent together was a reunion in Jamestown and Williamsburg, Virginia. In summer of 2000, Janet and Ches joined our family for a week's vacation which was really fun! In the photo to the right, you can see us standing by one of the ships in Jamestown: Barbara, Roy, Lois, Janet, Ches, and me with my husband Dan, daughter Kimberly and son Steven. Below that you can see a different combination of our group, Janet & Ches' daughter Ginny and her husband Randy joined us in Williamsburg -- what fun! It was really wonderful for me to reconnect with my "back East" relatives and enjoy good times together. After hearing about Aunt Janet's passing away, Barbara wrote to me, "I know Janet had a very strong belief in God and knew she would be in His hands. She will be missed by many. I think her beautiful voice will always be something I remember." It is true. Both Barbara and I have a tape that Janet made for our mom, of Janet singing Malotte's "The Lord's Prayer" in their childhood family church, Carmel Presbyterian Church in Glenside, PA. The tape of her beautiful singing was played at both our mother's and father's memorial services. Hearing her sing touches our souls with joy and praise to God. Janet was indeed a wonderful, loving woman, touching many people's hearts, and indeed she was a very special aunt to me. I will surely miss her.