Janet Elaine Obenchain

1934 - 2017

Janet Elaine Obenchain

Born: March 22, 1934

Died: January 2, 2017

Janet Elaine Obenchain (n e Higgins), age 82, passed away peacefully on January 2, 2017 in Woodstock, Illinois, with the love of her family all around her.

Dearly loved wife of the late Ralph R. Obenchain Jr. for 57 years. Beloved mother of R. Riley Obenchain, Edith Obenchain, Samuel Obenchain (Denise), and Valerie McLeer, all of Woodstock, and Abigail Obenchain (William Cole) of Sault Ste. Marie, ON. Adored grandma to Mason and Avery Cole, Jax and Eli Obenchain, Krista and Sammy Obenchain, and Milo and Skyler McLeer. Cherished daughter of the late Janet and H. Ralph Higgins and sister of Frances Proctor of Ridgefield, WA, and Brian Higgins of Northville, MI. Sister in law of Gloria O. Russell of Kansas City, KS, Nancy Obenchain of Rogers, AR, and Mary Higgins of Northville, MI.

Elaine was born on March 22, 1934, and grew up in Grand Rapids and East Grand Rapids, MI, and Evanston, IL, where she graduated from Evanston Township High School. She spent two years at DePauw University, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority, and two years at the University of Minnesota, where she earned a bachelor of arts in psychology in 1955. After college she moved back to Evanston and worked as a claims adjuster in Chicago. She met her husband Ralph on the Chicago & Northwestern commuter train. Their story about the train playing Cupid was written up in the Chicago Tribune. They married in October 1957 and began their life together in Evanston, later moving to Wilmette in 1966 and rural Woodstock in 1980.

Elaine was a lifelong scholar and an accomplished writer who in 1977 published The Complete Catalog of Ampico Reproducing Piano Rolls. Later she wrote and illustrated a five-volume set of books on McHenry County cemeteries, which were published by the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society.

She loved animals, raising Rocky Mountain horses, many cats, and beef calves; was an avid flower and vegetable gardener and a gifted photographer who won several awards for her photos at the McHenry County Fair; and was an avid fisherwoman, landing several muskies that weighed more than 20 pounds. She had many talents, ranging from sewing her daughter wedding dress to re-upholstering furniture to making the world's best Yorkshire pudding. She lead a vibrant and active life till the very end, in her later years taking on challenges such as translating Spanish-language books on Asturian horses into English and mastering pedal kayaking. Her greatest joy was watching her grandchildren learn to fish, tube, ski, play bean bag, shoot, and drive tractors and boats at her rural home in Woodstock and her cottage in northern Wisconsin. She never gave up on muskie fishing, always hopeful that the next monster was just one more cast away.

A celebration of Elaine's life will be held on Saturday, January 7 at Schneider Leucht Merwin & Cooney Funeral Home, 1211 N Seminary Ave, Woodstock, IL. Visitation will be from 10:30 am until the noon service.

In lieu of flowers, her family requests donations to the McHenry County Illinois Genealogical Society, http://www.mcigs.org/donate.html.

For information, contact the Schneider, Leucht, Merwin & Cooney Funeral Home at 815-338-1710 or visit the website at www.slmcfh.com.