Photo courtesy of Baier Family Funeral Services - Paxton
Sep 11, 1931 - Feb 14, 2023
You were a second mother to me when things were very tough in my life. Thank you and God bless you
Stephen Lind
March 07, 2024 | Southwick, MA
Sorry to learn of the death of your Mother.
You are blessed to have the Mother and Father that you had.
LeRoy Deichman
March 10, 2023 | Shelbyville, MO | Friend
Dear Jim, Doug, Grace, Greg and Families,
I’m very saddened by the loss of your Mom. She was quite the woman and by the looks of it she lived a great life. I also noticed that we hailed from the same alma materMennonite Nursing School.
I had hoped to be there today, but I’m still recovering from my fall. Please know that I’ve been keeping you all in my thoughts and Prayers.
May all your memories help you as you embark on your journey of grief and may GOD’s...
Joyce Williamson
February 25, 2023 | Paxton, IL | Friend
Sorry to hear of the passing of Mrs. Niewold. I remember the Niewolds best in the mid-late 1960s when I was in the Walltown 4-H club which Wayne Niewold helped lead. My brothers Darwin and Steve were in the Walltown 4-H club too. The Niewolds were great farm neighbors as a remember them before i moved from the area. In closing my sympathy goes to the Niewold children Grace, Doug, and Jim and families. Rick Brown, PHS, Class of 72
Rick Brown
February 25, 2023 | Rsntoul, IL | Neighbor
We send our sympathies and condolences to the Niewold family. Grace sounded like an exceptional woman, just like the rest of her family! --Craig and Karen
Karen Kummerow
February 25, 2023 | Gibson City, IL | Friend
R. I. P. AND GOD'S SPEED JAN !!
Floyd brown
February 20, 2023 | Florissant, MO | Friend
Just heard about Janet's passing. Learned a lot about her in the obituary that I didn't know. She was an amazing lady full of heart, graciousness and determination. Sympathies to Jim, Doug and Grace. Thinking of you all.
Sincerely, Theresa Elliott Reuschel
February 20, 2023
Remembered By
Marcia Ailey
February 19, 2023 | Paxton, IL
What a woman she was a great friend and neighbor. She will be missed . She was always so good to me. Bless her heart and all yours my deepest sympathies to the family of such a wonderful person.
Cindy k wallace
February 18, 2023 | Melvin, IL | Friend
Grace Janet (Weaver) Niewold, 91, of rural Loda, passed away at 12:23 p.m. Tuesday, February 14, 2023, at Villas of Holly Brook, Rantoul.
Visitation for Janet and Wayne (who died 01/22/2021) Niewold will be from 1:00-2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 25, 2023, at the Federated Church of Paxton, 221 W. Center Street.
A Memorial Service for the two will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, February 25, following the visitation at the church with an Eastern Star Service and Masonic Rites. Baier Family Funeral Services, Paxton is handling arrangements.
Janet will be laid to rest next to her husband, Wayne, in Glen Cemetery, Paxton in a private family graveside service.
Grace Janet (Weaver) Niewold, known as Jannie or Janet, was born September 11, 1931 at the Mennonite Hospital in Bloomington, Illinois. Her parents were Maurice John Weaver and Lena Louise Foskule Weaver of Loda, Illinois.
She married Donald Wayne Niewold on August 29, 1954 in the Methodist Church in Paxton, IL after which they lived on Wayne’s family farm in New Holland, IL for three years. They returned to her family farm in 1957.
She lived most of her life in the family home on the farm her family owned since 1868. The Weaver homestead was awarded a SESQUICENTENNIAL FARM designation in 2018 by the IL Department of Agriculture…celebrating 150 years of ownership by the same family.
She went to the Center School in Wall Township, rural Loda, for grades 1-8, graduated from Paxton High School in 1949, attended IL Wesleyan School of Music and graduated with an RN from Mennonite School of Nursing in Bloomington IL. She was a housewife, mother and nurse. She was employed two years at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Lincoln, IL, the Paxton Hospital and the Illinois Knights Templar Home in Paxton, as well as private nursing duties for different families over the years.
Janet is a Past Grand Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star in Illinois (1993); a 50-year member of O.E.S.; member of Daughters of the Nile; 50-year member of Abraham Shrine No 100 of White Shrine of Jerusalem, Lincoln. IL; Paxton American Legion Auxiliary Prairie Unit No. 150; Sigma Alpha Chapter of Sigma Alpha Iota Music Sorority at Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL. She belonged to a neighborhood social group, The Moffett Club. In addition, she was a member of Wall Town 4-H Club (which her father helped form) and was later active in helping as a parent. She was a supporter of the Paxton Community School District music and sports programs and FFA.
She was blessed with a beautiful soprano voice for which she was known for singing in The Federated Church choir, as well as for many funerals. She also sang in a ladies trio (Janet, Phyllis Smith, and Rita Watkins accompanied by Lucille McKinney), The Prairiettes, which was named for American Legion Prairie Post 150 in Paxton. They performed in the area and sang in one of the first national TV talent contests, the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. She also was honored to sing a solo, “The Lord’s Prayer”, at the convention for the installation of friend and Paxtonite, Rae Shaw, as the National President of The American Legion Auxiliary in 1970.
Her husband, Wayne, passed away on January 22, 2021. She has three children; James M. (Robin) Niewold of Loda, IL, Douglas W. (Deana) Niewold of Loda, IL, and Grace J. (Brian) Funk of Paxton, IL. Grandchildren are: Gregory J. (Lisa) Niewold of Loda, IL, Jessica L. (Scott) Nguyen of Washington D.C., Kristen L. (Michael) Cherwa of Plainfield, IN, Michelle L. (Zachary) Vaughn of Loda, IL, and Eric J Funk of Hilton Head Island, SC. Great Grandchildren are: Madigan, Mason, and Maia Cherwa; Ainsley, Luke, Kate, and Henry Niewold; Carter and Tillie Vaughn. Janet has a sister, Nancy Anne (Gerald – deceased) Dickey, living in Champaign, IL and a niece, Linda S (Clifford) Hartt, also of Champaign. She had one brother, Maurice John Weaver, Jr. (deceased) and a nephew, Ned E. Dickey (deceased).
Memorials may be made to the Grand Chapter of Illinois, O.E.S. Endowment Trust Fund, 9894 Star Lane, Macon, IL 62544 or Shriners Children’s Hospital Chicago, 2211 N. Oak Park Avenue, Chicago, IL 60707. Online condolences can be shared with the family at www.baierfuneralservices.com.
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