Janet Mae Pepple

Janet Mae Pepple, 89, of Salinas, CA passed away at home, peacefully on March 15, 2025.
Visitation will be from 9 AM to noon, Wednesday, March 26, 2025, at Struve and Laporte Funeral Chapel, 41 W. San Luis St., Salinas, CA. A service for Janet will be held in the chapel at noon with Pastor Andy Rausch officiating. Burial will be held at Garden of Memories Cemetery immediately following the service.
Janet was born in Columbus, Ohio to Howard and Alma Wilkins on November 17, 1935. At the age of 17, Janet married Calvin (Bud) Pepple Jr. on August 28, 1953, in their hometown of Columbus, OH. They moved west to Salinas, CA in 1956 with all their belongings in a two door sedan pulling a one-wheeled trailer. The couple expanded their family in 1966 by adopting a newborn son they named Mark.
Janet left high school at the age of 17 to work as a clerk for a law firm in Columbus, OH. After moving to Salinas, she continued her career in clerical and bookkeeping in the legal field. She took several years off to raise Mark at home until he was in school when she then worked part-time. She expanded her work to accounting and tax preparation. In the 1980s, she started Janet's Bookkeeping Service for which she had many long-term clients in Salinas. She worked for clients in-office and from home until the age of 80 when she retired.
Over her full life, she adored her family and friends. Janet always had a big smile, shining bright blue eyes and a positive outlook in almost any circumstance. She enjoyed tending her garden, nurturing her many beautiful flowers, and she loved pampering her many dogs and cats throughout the years. She even hand-fed her turtle that has lived in her backyard for over 50 years. She was known by many for her traditional baking of Christmas cookies. Janet was a loving wife of 64 years, a wonderful role model as a mother, and a loving grandmother who adored her two granddaughters. We were blessed that she was able to see her newborn twin great-grandchildren born just days before her passing. She was a Christian woman who was a dedicated wife, mother, and grandmother to her family and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her. Her two mottos in life were, "Everything happens for a reason" and "God has a plan".
Janet is preceded in death by her husband Calvin, sister Mary Jo Milligan, brother Howard Wilkins Jr., sister-in-law Roberta Wilkins, and her lifetime friend/"sister" Charlotte Huffman.
She is survived by her son Mark Pepple, "daughter"-in-law Tammy (O'Brien) Pepple, granddaughters Alyssa (Pepple) Virgil, Jenna Pepple, newborn twin great-grandchildren Amara and Zayden Virgil, and many nephews and nieces.
The family wishes to express our sincere thanks to her extended family, friends, doctors, Pacific Cancer Center, Central Coast VNA & Hospice, her very special in-home caregivers Anchie and Fifita, Struve & Laporte, and Garden of Memories for all their support through this difficult time