Cowlitz County WA Archives Obituaries.....Janke, Ronald A. June 2006 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wa/wafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: P. J. Stepp steppmom5@hotmail.com June 26, 2006, 7:04 pm Published in The Daily News on 6/22/2006. www.tdn.com/obits Ronald A. Janke, Ronald A. Janke was born January 27, 1935 in Driscoll, North Dakota to Adolph Janke and Elsie (Meyer) Janke. Elsie and three sons moved to the Monroe, Washington area after Adolph was suffocated in a grain elevator during the flood of 1943. He attended school in Everett and the Monroe schools. He graduated from Monroe High and attended Washington Teachers College (WWU) and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Teaching with a major in English and English Literature. He later earned his Masters at the University of Oregon as a Master Teacher in Reading. He met Virginia through a college friend who was teaching with her in Elma, WA. They were married on April 8, 1961. Virginia finished her year at Elma and then joined the Kelso School teaching staff in Kelso, WA. Ron came to Kelso to set up the Barnes and Coweeman libraries in 1960. After two years in the libraries, he returned to the classroom at Butler Acres where he taught 4th and 5th grades. During this time he served as President of the Kelso Teachers Association for two different terms. In the classroom he was known for his Hawaiian Luaus and clay pigs that students enjoyed and remembered when they talked to him years later. He was an exchange teacher to Australia and also took in New Zealand while there. At the age of 42, he and family took up ice skating at Jantzen Beach. Ron stayed with it and ended up doing dance competition and being on a precision team at Lloyd Center. His skating brought him much enjoyment and wonderful friendships. After retirement in 1989 due to migraines, he substituted in Castle Rock and Toutle Lake Schools. He loved teaching the Home Economics class at Toutle. In Castle Rock, the students remember him as "Story Man". When he quit substituting, the kids in Castle Rock gave him a big party and were sad to see him retire. He was a member of three Volksmarch Clubs in the Vancouver and Portland area. He marked trails and cleared trails for the walks, then walked them again for his own record. He took Walking Tours of the North East, South East, and across Canada to Nova Scotia. All the trips were by train. The Midwest and South West was covered in car trips with Virginia and grandson, Brandon. The capitols were visited in 12 states on these trips. Many summers were spent in Sun Valley, Idaho skating with his skating group from Portland, Oregon. Hiking was also a big part of those two weeks every summer. He participated in competitive ice dancing and precision ice skating competition. He thoroughly enjoyed this as he was never in any other sport competition. He suffered from Psoriasis from the age of 12 to 52 when treatments called PUVA where introduced as a study which he took part in and in a matter of months he began to get relief and it went into remission for the last 20 years of life. He was always so thankful to God that he could now travel and not be constantly taking care of the disease. He walked daily from his Butler Acres home to Starbucks and back to get his daily exercise and his coffee at the same time. He delivered Meals on Wheels 4 days a week for 4 years and Bread for Fish 2 or 3 Fridays a month for 3 years. He is survived by his wife, Virginia of 45 years of marriage, and two daughters, Karen, a teacher in an international school in Doha, Qatar and Colleen Butcher of Longview. He is also survived by a grandson, Brandon Reed and fiancée Jennie Weston, and great grandson, Nathanial Reed. He was a surrogate Grandpa to Jennifer Belter's three children, Sierra, Jenica, and Isaiah. He was a member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church, enjoyed ushering, and the Friendship dinners. In lieu of flowers, you may contribute to the Alzheimer's Foundation, 3910 S. E. Stark St., Portland, OR 97214, The National Psoriasis Foundation, 6600 S. W. 92nd Ave Ste. 300, Portland, OR 97223-7195, or the Emmanuel Lutheran Fish Program, 2218 E. Kessler Blvd., Longview, WA 98632. A Memorial Service will be held at Emmanuel Lutheran Church on June 28, 2006 at 11:00 a.m. A Luncheon will follow for family and friends. Arrangements are under the direction of Dahl- McVicker Funeral Home. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wa/cowlitz/obits/j/janke620gob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wafiles/ File size: 4.8 Kb