Janelle Roberts Healy

Obituary of Janelle Roberts Healy

This will be our best attempt to capture the journey that is & was Janelle VanDyke.

A smile that could brighten any day… and a mouth that could make a sailor blush.

 

From a mother who knows best and a father who knew her best, Ma grew up loved in a different way; a way that gave her unmet strength as well as a passion for love and acceptance that the world would recognize.

 

A small-town girl with eyes set on family, fashion, and a rusty nail or two; she spent most of her time in Washington making lifelong friends that would carry her to the end.  From high school sweethearts and racing around in muscle cars, Italians with too much gold in RVs larger than life to a flock of horses on an island.  Ma lived.  She did it her way.

 

Janelle had many names, her hair color had been known to change quite rapidly, and she was often found on the hunt for rare artifacts also known as roosters & snowmen.

 

While Ma sounds like a modern action star, she was just the opposite.  Janny From The Block, her self-proclaimed nickname, loved people and even more so loved making them feel accepted for who they were.  No matter who she met or where she was both physically and mentally, she touched everyone who crossed her path.  *Disclaimer her road rage… maybe a little less touching there!

 

I was around 10 years old and my Ma had a great idea to go to a palm reader; yup, a palm reader.  It was grand, Ma walking in like she had finally arrived at the place she was meant to find her whole life… a look we’ve all seen.  It was here I think I first started to realize who my mother was.  This mystic palm reader, guider of souls, told Ma that her mission in life wasn’t to do anything BUT enjoy.  Pay the lady and off we went!  I’ve chewed on this for many years.  While it makes so much sense, Ma always knew how to have a good time… how is such a complex person like Ma supposed to not do anything?

 

Maybe Ma wasn't supposed to do anything… but she never did listen.  While some may look past her achievements, the ones who are blessed to know, know.  Ma was one who wanted everyone to feel accepted and loved just for who they are.

 

If you were pinched to find my Ma’s greatest joy it would be her beautiful daughter.  They were a pair through the years that were unmatched in resilience; together.  Two peas in a pod.  Ma had a rough childhood.  While humbled in nature her path was forged, and as all mothers do, Ma made sure her children had a better life than she did.  I think it's within her daughter that she could relate to that most and find her joy.  No more certainty than within her grandchildren.  Oh boy, it starts & stops there.  While her kids were the air she breathed, her grandchildren were the stars that lit her dreams.

 

She was a woman of many battles.  From her struggles with health to what could be defined as a cliff road, Ma fought to live her way.  She had her flair for the holidays.  Every Easter made the chickens blush and every Christmas had more snowmen than the North Pole.  Ma might have fought to live but she did it in leopard print loafers, and if you wanted to know “the story”, you better grab lunch.

 

The way to Ma’s heart was through her stomach.  No one knew this better than her husband; someone who never stopped cooking.  Even to her last days, she would kick anyone's rear for a waffle, some strawberries and whipped cream.  “You don't have to eat the waffle if you just want some berries & cream.”

 

While some felt accepted, others felt assured, appreciated and loved by Ma.  She was a fighter; one that never gave up. She was crazy, and everyone adored her for it.  Ma was one of a kind and someone we are all blessed to have touched our journeys.

 

As you go through your days, we ask just a couple things in memory of Ma.  Wear some crazy ass shoes and f-----g live life.

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Tuesday
5
July

Graveside

11:00 am
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
Holyrood Catholic Cemetery
205 NE 205th Street
Shoreline, Washington, United States
Monday
18
July

Celebration of Life

11:00 am
Monday, July 18, 2022
New Community Church
21401 - 224th Avenue SE
Maple Valley, Washington, United States
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