Janet A. Havery

Janet A. (Nelson) Havery, age 69, passed away June 22, 2022, in Sarasota, Florida. She was born Dec. 14, 1952, in Columbus, Ohio where she attended St. Matthias Grade School and St. Francis DeSales High School. Her family moved to St. Joseph, Michigan in 1967, where she graduated from Lake Michigan Catholic High School in 1970.
Janet attended the College of St. Francis in Joliet, Illinois. She transferred to Lake Michigan College where she met Bryan Havery, the Love of Her Life. They were married in southwest Michigan in 1974. They moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near Marquette and Sugarloaf Mountain, where their son Shawn was born, then settling in Florida about a year later.
Janet excelled in singing and pursued this passion with great joy. She sang at Shubert Theater in Chicago in 1972 with the College of St. Francis choir. Later she and her husband sang with the Rollins University choir in Orlando, Florida. Janet often sang at several church services each weekend, rushing from one service to another. Throughout her lifetime, Janet sang Handel's Messiah over twenty times in various choirs.
Janet was a homemaker with many talents. She started sewing at a young age and became a skilled seamstress. She loved to read books, write poetry, and crochet afghans. She also enjoyed a lively game of euchre, cribbage, or backgammon. She was so much fun.
Janet's greatest joy in life was her family. She was gregarious and nurturing. She loved to laugh, especially at her husband's quick wit. She found great purpose and fulfillment in motherhood. In fact, she enjoyed being a mother so much that she used the Latin word for mother on social media. She also served as a parent-mentor at Pine View School in Sarasota, Florida.
Janet is irreplaceable and will be sorely missed.
She was predeceased by her husband Bryan Havery, parents Morris (Ed) and Martha Nelson, brother Thomas A. Nelson, nephew Jaime "Woody" Barr, and grandniece Payton Eeten. Her family who live to cherish her memory are her beloved son Shawn Havery; sisters Lois Nelson, Alisa Stanford, and Teresa Nelson; brother Kevin Nelson; six nieces and nephews; and ten grandnieces and grandnephews.
A memorial service celebrating her life will be held July 16 at 3:00 PM at Toale Brothers Funeral Home in Sarasota, Florida, followed by a reception at the local Knights of Columbus banquet hall.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Janet Havery Memorial Fund with the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation, at the following website: https://app.mobilecause.com/vf/PFFTribute/JanetHavery