JANET LaVAUGHAN GRUENFELD peacefully passed into the arms of Jesus at Toltec Living Center in Santa Barbara, CA on September 14, 2009 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's. Born to John D. and Ruth C. Clark in Lake City, Iowa in 1929, Jan was one of two children. Her older sister Caryl Elizabeth Jones preceded her in death. Jan is survived by her husband Jay Gruenfeld, daughter Deni Sutherland and husband Steve, Lisa Call and husband Chris, son Chris Gruenfeld, and three grandchildren, Erin, Janna and Grant. Jan is also survived by Jay's children, Kimberly Gruenfeld, Wendy Haynes and husband Bern, and Barbara Swayze, three grandsons, a granddaughter and a great granddaughter. We offer many thanks to Bea Ochoa for her years of compassionate care to Jan in our home. Thanks too, to the staff at Valley Haven Adult Day Center which Jan loved attending for several years.

Jan had an interesting life. She attended elementary school in a one-room school house in Rockwell City, Iowa where her father was a gentleman farmer and shopkeeper and her mother was a teacher. The town was very small, so her father's furniture store doubled as the town's funeral home.

Jan's family moved to Riverside, California when Jan was in high school; she graduated from Riverside Polytechnic High School in 1947. Jan earned her Bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1951 from University of California, Santa Barbara. She was an educator for more than 20 years, having taught pre-school, then elementary school in northern California, Portland, Oregon and in the eastern Washington towns of Palouse, Garfield and Rosalia. While living in Palouse, Jan received her Master's degree in Education, focusing on guidance and counseling. She was an outstanding high school counselor, first splitting her time between Palouse and Rosalia, Washington. A career move took Jan and her three kids to Bend, Oregon where she worked as a high school counselor at Bend High School, until she married Jay Gruenfeld in 1973.

Jan moved to Lewiston, Idaho in 1973, and her passion for kids and education caused her to successfully run for a seat on the Lewiston school board in 1977. Jan and Jay moved to the Seattle area in 1980 and made their home there for 21 years. In 2001, they relocated to Lompoc to enjoy the sunshine of California.

A celebration of Jan's life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Lompoc, CA on October 18 at 2:00 p.m.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to:

Central Coast Alzheimer's Association or Visiting Nurse and Hospice Care of Santa Barbara

or

California Central Coast Alzheimer's Association, 1528 Chapala Street, Suite 204; Santa Barbara, CA 93101