Janet Marilyn Crossman

Janet Marilyn Crossman, 82, born on September 25, 1934 in Dubuque, Iowa, passed away January 11, 2017. She resided in Glendale, California at the time of her passing. Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, California.

My mom was born in Dubuque, Iowa to Violet (Vi) and Bert Oswald. She had an older sister Betty and a younger brother Dick. She spend her teenage years in Long Island, New York and attended Centenary College. Soon after that the family moved to San Francisco where her dad was to run the West coast operation for the Pearl Insurance company.

San Francisco is where she met my dad, they were living just a few doors away from each other on the same street, Locksly Lane in San Rafael. They were married in September of 1958. They lived in the City for a while, and I remember them telling me how they would go to the bank on Friday, get $10 in cash, they would go grocery shopping, go out to dinner, and have money left over for the next week! My dad was working for CNA, and my mom was doing secretarial work nearby.

Dad got transferred all over the country in the early days, and mom was right there with him. In 1961 I came along while they were living in Birmingham, Michigan. In 1966 dad was transferred again, this time to Los Angeles. They found a nice house in Glendale where my dad's older brother Phil also lived. Life was idyllic in Glendale, so much so, I'm still there 51 years later.

We settled down in Glendale and mom stayed home to raise me. I didn't know how good I had it. We were always doing something together, I have so many wonderful memories of the things we did. I remember when it was hot we would go to the movies as the theater was air conditioned. We saw a lot of matinees during the summer months, thank goodness for Disney movies, the Jungle Book, the Gnomemobile, and many others. I had a lot of dental work as a kid and one thing I'll never forget was it seemed I was always getting teeth pulled. I guess the Orthodontist really earned his pay with me, but afterwards she would always stop at the store and get me a treat, I remember a kite on one occasion, something for me to look forward to after I recovered I guess.

Mom was involved in lots of clubs and associations in Glendale, she got involved in The Altrusa Club, and learned to China paint with her dear friend Muriel Weaks.
My mom loved animals and we always had a pet dog or cat around. Our first dog was a sheep dog named Tootsie, or our smart-alecky cat named Sam. I remember we had a German Shepard named Schatzi, well dad was going to BBQ some nice steaks in the yard, and set the platter of meat down on the table next to the grill, and went back inside to get something. Well Schatzi being the carnivorous dog she was decided to help herself to one of those fine steaks. This is where it got exciting! My mom saw her grab the steak, ran over, and was trying to pull it out of her jowls! What a sight it was mom playing tug of war with the dog, sure glad mom didn't win that contest, it might have ended up being my dinner!

They eventually retired to the country and had some land where she had all the animals she wanted. I know she was very happy with that.
My dad tried retirement, but didn't do well sitting still, he returned to the insurance business until they finally retired to Hemet, California where they spent the last 15 years. They had a wonderful group of friends there and it wasn't too far away for us to visit.

Mom passed only 12 days after dad passed on December 30, 2016. We were fortunate to be with her at the end and it was very peaceful. I'm pretty sure dad came to take her to heaven with him, they were truly inseparable. They did spend some time together recently on moms last birthday in September of 2016, that's the photo you see here. That was the last time they were together, I'll treasure that picture of them together forever.

Janet is survived by her son Ken, daughter in-law Cynthia, grand children Kurt & Kristine, and brother Dick Oswald.

They isn't going to be a service, it was their desire to be cremated, and we have a nice Niche for both of them at Forest Lawn in Hollywood Hills. Please let me know if you'd like the location and I'll send it to you.

Please sign the guest book if you have a moment I know the family would appreciate it.
Ken Crossman