Funeral services for Janet L. Dawson will be at 2:00 P.M., Saturday, February 3, 2024 Northminster Church.  Pastor Jillian Hankamer will officiate and interment will follow at Mulhearn Memorial Park Cemetery.  Visitation will be held prior to the service from 1:00 P.M.to 2:00P.M. at the church.  Services are under the care and direction of Kilpatrick Funeral Home, Monroe, Louisiana.

Janet Lee O’Connor Dawson was born April 12, 1943 in Paola, Kansas.  Her parents were Burl Bryan and Edna Sims O’Connor.  Her only sibling, Donald, was born almost four years later.  The family settled in southeast Kansas.  Janet graduated from Chanute High School, Chanute Junior College and Emporia State Teachers’ College.  She left Kansas soon after marrying Raymond L. Dawson on December 27, 1964.  Except for nine months in Wisconsin and five years in Atlanta, Georgia, they spent their 43 ½ years of married life in Monroe, Louisiana.

Ray was employed in the Research Department of the paper mill in West Monroe.  Janet enjoyed being a fulltime homemaker and mother for a number of years.  She was certified to teach in grades K through 8.  She eventually taught full-time, then part-time and also as a substitute teacher.

A rare type of multiple sclerosis changed the direction but not the substance of her life.  Her main focus was her husband and their three children; Brian, Wendy and Matt.  The Dawson household always included pets, one special dog and a succession of spoiled cats.  Then came the six grandchildren; both Janet and Ray tried to spend as much time as possible with them.

Through the years, Janet was involved in activities sometimes designated as “volunteer work”.  She did not call it work.  It was what she saw as the tapestry of her life.  It provided her with so many treasured friendships, plus a wealth of wonderful memories.  An example is the once very active local Multiple Sclerosis Support Group.  Keeping the members engaged and connected was something Janet really enjoyed.

Janet and Ray were avid supporters of the arts in Northeast Louisiana, attending concerts, art exhibits and plays whenever possible.  Strauss Theatre was special to both of them; Ray working backstage and Janet acting onstage in what are now called “the old days”.  She was in thirteen productions and relished every minute.

For years her membership and participation in church involved singing, playing the piano and directing a children’s’ choir.  Janet loved teaching Bible School.  Also, she was involved in United Methodist Women and enjoyed being a Circle Study Leader.  In later years, she found a spiritual home in Northminster Church, believing she truly belonged there.  She also knew that it was only temporary, that she would one day leave for a home not belonging to this earth.  Janet was not ready for her oldest child to leave at age 31 (1997).  She did not want her husband to leave at age 66 (2008). But now she herself is ready.  Thanks be to God for this life and the next.

Surviving Janet Dawson is her brother, Donald O’Connor and  his son and daughter in Wichita, Kansas; her daughter, Wendy Ford (Mike) with their daughters Natalie and Ashlyn in West Monroe, Louisiana; her son, Matt Dawson (Isabelle) of Windsor, Ontario with his daughters, Brooklyn and Hannah and his son Gabriel (Alex) and their children, Hazel Obar, Liam Dawson, and Miles Dawson; her deceased son Brian’s daughter Andrea Dawson (Brandon) in Washington, D.C.

Memorials may be made to the Louisiana Purchase Zoological Society , 1405 Bernstein Park Road, Monroe, Louisiana.

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