Janice 'Jane' Smith Barnes, 92

Jane Smith Barnes died peacefully on Sunday, April 23, 2017, at North Valley Hospital. She was 92 years old. 

She was lovingly called Aunty Jane or Grandma by most kids in her life, related or not.

She was born in Whitefish on June 14, 1924, to Pearl and Roger Smith. She attended schools in Whitefish and on Oct. 4, 1940, married the love of her life, Lorin Barnes, in Polson. Together they had two sons, Doug and Dennis Barnes. Later they became the loving parents to Rod Smith. 

Jane was very active in civic duties. Her favorite was volunteering for the Whitefish Methodist Church and especially working to get the Flathead Lake Methodist camp ready for the summer. She spent many hours volunteering for the Whitefish Soroptimist Thrift Haus and later, she volunteered for the Klothes Kloset in Columbia Falls. Working hard was her mantra and her yard was a show place. In later years, when she could only do container gardening, her yard was still a maze of colors. Music was her passion and often, when you stopped by, you could hear the piano music coming out of the open windows. 

Jane was preceded in death by her husband, two sons, grandson, two sisters and two brothers. 

She is survived by her granddaughters, Ayrne Meyer, Somer Van Lith and Angela Gruber; and by three grandsons, Jeff Barnes, Tory Gruber and Jim Gilbert. She has several great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and a host of friends including special friends, Joe and Jean Voermans. 

Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at the Whitefish United Methodist Church, 1150 Wisconsin Avenue.

Austin Funeral Home is caring for Janice’s family.