Janet Roberts

1933 - 2023

Mrs. Janet Lee (Smith) Roberts of Damascus, died on April 29, 2023, at Northampton Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Frederick, Maryland. She was 89 years old. She was born on December 11, 1933, to Lucille F. (Beall) Smith and Willard Ellsworth Smith in Purdum, Maryland. She was predeceased by Charles S. Roberts, Jr., her husband of 71 years; her parents; and her sister, Betty J. Shifflett.

Janet was a kind, gentle, loving woman. She was the oldest of three girls and her mother often said that she was never a worry or a problem. She was married at 16 and spent her early married life traveling the country with her husband, who was in the Navy. They settled later in Maryland, purchasing land, and building a house next door to her parents.

Janet spent her life loving and caring for her husband and their two daughters, and later her three grandsons. She had been a tomboy growing up, so household chores, such as cooking and cleaning, were her least favorite things to do. She loved being outdoors mowing the grass on her riding mower, singing as she went. She was an active and willing participant in her husband's adventures - hand-digging and building an in-ground pool, overhauling an engine, chopping wood, owning a cabin cruiser and spending overnights on Virginia's inland waterways, purchasing, and camping in a motor home before anyone else had one, buying two motorcycles and each riding with a daughter on the back of their seat. She was a support to her husband when their home became a meeting place for young people seeking the Lord. She was easygoing, but when she was disappointed or disapproving, she wouldn't say anything, but she would give "the look." Her husband most often received "the look." ("The look" is remembered fondly by her family.) She loved her crossword puzzle books - a habit she picked up early in her marriage when she was alone and her husband was out to sea for long periods of time. She always had one in her hand until she forgot what they were.

Janet is survived by her sister, Ruby Y. McDonald, and her two daughters, Marsha A. Melson (Roger), of Damascus, Maryland, and Karen L. Sleeth of Durham, North Carolina. She has three grandsons - Adam Wiles (Heather), Mt. Airy, Maryland; Matthew Wiles (Tracey), Hagerstown, Maryland; and Micah Wiles (Sarah), Frederick, Maryland. In addition, she has eight great-grandchildren - Makenzie Lewis, Austin Wiles, Brendan Carr, Riley Carr, Isabella Wiles, Ellie Wiles, Lucy Wiles, Calvin Wiles, and several nephews.

A service celebrating Janet's life will be held at 10:00 am on June 10, 2023, at Mt. View Church and Cemetery, 11501 Mt. View Rd., Damascus, followed by a covered dish lunch at the home of Marsha and Roger Melson. Janet (Smith) Roberts