Janet (Oaks) Francis

Fear no more the heat o’ the sun

Nor the furious winter’s rages;

Thou thy worldly task hast done,

Home art gone, and ta’en thy wages.

Following a long, courageous battle with a multitude of ailments, Janet Oaks Francis passed away on June 12, 2015, at the Holladay, UT Health Care Center. She was 82.

Born in Provo on October 9, 1932 to Dr. Lewis Weston Oaks and Jessie Nelson Oaks, Jan was the youngest of four. After a happy childhood, with summers at a cabin up the canyon and trips to the wilds of Vernal, Janet graduated from BYU High School in 1950. There she served as Senior Class Secretary, worked on the “Y’ld Cat” student paper, and was active in the French society “Notre Maison,” the Quill and Scroll literary club, and the school’s Thespian group.

She then attended Brigham Young University, taking a degree in Elementary Education and focusing on English, French, and Children’s Literature. (In her career as a library cataloguer, she made this last field her special expertise.)

Janet graduated in 1955 with a Bachelor of Arts—and having met a bachelor artist! This was Rell Gardner Francis, a painter, sculptor, and photographer from Lake Shore, UT—whom she married on July 18, 1958, in the Logan LDS Temple. Three years later, now in Springville, Janet gave birth to Rell Sean; in 1963 came Lewis McKay and then a daughter, Dana, in 1968.

Beginning in 1967, Janet worked part- and then full-time as a card cataloger for BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library. She was admired and beloved there, happily ensconced in her carrel amid towers of books requiring her care. Upon retirement in 2001,”JOF” was celebrated at a University event, with the late Welsh poet Leslie Norris, whose work and person she deeply loved, providing an eloquent appreciation.

At home she cooked superbly and abundantly; laundered, gardened and helped with homework. She also supported her husband in his quixotic quests, enabling Rell to bring important creative and scholarly projects to fruition. She was perhaps happiest in her sewing room, making clothes or mending what needed mending. When not working with her hands and plying the Singer’s pedal, she was reading.  Few people since Gutenberg introduced moveable type can have read as much! Her favorites were mystery novels—and she spoke of writing her own one day. All who knew her wish she had; but then all who knew her have more than enough to remember her by.

She also took special delight in travel; highlights included a post-college stay in Hawaii, and a post-retirement return to the islands. Her endless curiosity about and interest in life inspired.

She could not not move—tap her foot, sway to the swing—when hearing great music.  She laughed with infectious zest and gusto—especially when Carol Burnett was on TV!

In her last decades Janet keenly enjoyed experiencing her children’s adult lives; and she loved communing with her five—a quincunx!—grandchildren.

A faithful member of the LDS Church, she dedicated a good part of her life to service, making the rounds of her Springville neighborhood, bringing baked goods and kind words to the ailing and grieving. Empathizing; comforting.

Janet Oaks Francis was preceded in death by a brother, Clinton Oaks, and two sisters: Carol Oaks and Joyce Oaks Bird. She also survived her husband—no mean feat!—who died in 2008.

Janet lives on in the three beings whose great good fortune it was to have her as a mother: Rell Sean Francis, of Chicago, IL; Lewis McKay Francis, of Salt Lake City; and Dana Francis Lepore of Sandy. She will also shine on in the memories of her grandchildren: Madeline, Max, Sam and Amelia Lepore, the children of Dana and her husband Mike Lepore; and Nicholas Costello-Francis, son of Lewis and his wife Dana Costello.  Requiescat in Pace, Mater.

A viewing will be held Sunday, June 21, at the Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E. 200 S., Springville.  Family are welcome from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.; others from 6:00 to 8:00. Funeral services will begin at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 22, at the Springville Stake Center, 245 S. 600 E. Visitors may pay their respects from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.  Interment will follow at Provo’s Cemetery.  Condolences may be sent to www.wheelermortuaries.com