Obituary: Janet Ann Juhnke
KS_Newton -- Janet Ann Juhnke died in Salina on Wednesday
(Jan. 23, 2012). Her death ended an eleven-year journey with metastatic renal
cell carcinoma.
Janet was born on November 26, 1942, in Halstead, the second
of six children born to William Ernest Juhnke and Meta Goering Juhnke. She grew
up on the Juhnke farm near Elyria. In 1950 the family moved to Lehigh.
After graduating from Bethel College in 1964, Janet earned a
Master of Arts in Teaching degree at Northwestern University. For two years she
taught in the English department at Bethel College and then went on to the
University of Kansas for her doctorate. From 1973 to 2005, she taught English
at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. She served terms as chair of the
English department, chair of the faculty, and, for six years, as Dean of
Faculty and Vice-President of the University.
Throughout her life Janet was a committed Anabaptist
Mennonite. She helped found the Salina Mennonite Church and served that
congregation as a board member, pianist, Sunday school teacher, and
occasionally gave the Sunday sermon.
At KU Janet met Ted Hale, a native of New York state and
fellow graduate student. They married in 1975. Janet played violin with the
Salina Symphony and later sang in the Salina Chorale. She served on the Salina
Community Theatre board and as a member of the play-reading committee. At the
time of her death, she was president of Salina’s Current Literature Book Club.
In 1982 Governor Bill Graves named Janet to the Kansas
Humanities Council board. For 30 years, she remained an active member of the
KHC "Talking about Literature" series, leading book discussions at
public libraries across Kansas through the visiting scholar program.
In 2004 Governor Kathleen Sibelius appointed Janet to the
Supreme Court Nominating Commission. For eight years, until shortly before her
death, Janet worked on the nine-member Commission in Topeka to evaluate and
recommend candidates for the Kansas Supreme and Appellate Courts. Together with
her husband, Janet co-chaired the local RESULTS group, working in Salina and in
Washington D.C. to create the political will to end hunger and the worst
aspects of poverty in America. Janet also served on the board of the League of
Women Voters and was a member of the Saline County Democratic Women’s Club.
Survivors include her husband, Ted Hale; daughter, Elizabeth
and her husband, Lt. Colonel Jon Bushman of Omaha, Neb., and their children,
Miranda, Riley, Evan, and Will; son, Eugene Hale and partner Josh Melbourn of
St. Joseph, Mo.; two college-teacher brothers: Jim Juhnke and wife Miriam of Wichita,
Bill Juhnke Jr. and wife Carita of Lamoni, Iowa; three sisters: Sharon and
husband Richard Harris of Sacramento, Calif.; Ruth and husband Chester White of
Kansas City; Candace and husband Vance Unrau of Moundridge; plus uncles, aunts,
and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and other relatives in Janet’s extended
Juhnke and Goering families.
The memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Feb. 5 at University
United Methodist Church, 1509 S. Santa Fe, Salina.
