Sarah Jane "Janie" Castles

1947 - 2025

Sarah Jane "Janie" Castles
June 19, 1947 - January 19, 2025
Sarah Jane Castles, known as Janie to her friends and community, died peacefully at home in her own bed on Sunday morning, January 19, after enjoying a night of laughter and Shakespeare with her husband, Barry Albert Bussewitz. She was 77. They have lived in Petaluma for the last 40 years.
Janie is mourned by her son Devin Castles-Bussewitz and his wife Halley Cloud; her brother and sister-in-law Charley and Valerie Castles; her sister and brother-in-law Judy Castles and Mark Stamas; her East Coast brother-in-law and his wife Bob & Luz, her nieces and nephews in Denver, Colorado, and extended family.
Those who knew Janie recall her generosity of spirit and deep appreciation for friends and family. They describe her as a loyal, thoughtful friend and "all-around good soul." She loved cooking (owning more than 100 cookbooks featuring all types of cuisine) and was always singing along to music or humming a tune while spending time in the kitchen or grading papers. Janie earned bachelor's degrees at San Francisco State College and Metropolitan State College in Colorado; she earned her master's at UC Santa Barbara.
Janie met her future husband working on George McGovern's presidential campaign in Denver in 1972 after completing her first professional position as a Head Start teacher on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. They married in 1978, and, after teaching at Alan Hancock College in Santa Maria, settled in Petaluma in 1985 with their then two-year-old son.
Soon after moving to Petaluma, Janie became a professor at Solano Community College, where she dedicated more than two decades to teaching early childhood education to a generation of aspiring teachers, and spent time in Mexico learning Spanish to support her bilingual students and her work with the Petaluma Day Labor Initiative (PDLI).
Janie's enthusiasm extended to active support for local political candidates and initiatives. The success of the SMART train campaign and its implementation facilitated Janie and Barry to enjoy exciting outings to San Francisco, and Janie was the inaugural rider of Petaluma's new LumaGo transit. Hiking and camping in the natural environment of Mount Tamalpais were life highlights.
The family plans a relaxed Memorial Service at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 16 5th Street, in Petaluma at 3:00 on Sunday, March 23, 2025, followed by an informal wake at her home on Sixth Street.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Petaluma Urban Chat (Attn. Kevin Goulding, treasurer; 7 4th Street, Suite 34, Petaluma 94952); to the ACLU ; or to immigrants in need.