Janice Marilyn Friess

Janice Marilyn Friess, 88, of Rippey, IA passed away peacefully at her home on Saturday, February 24, 2024 with her daughters by her side.

Janice was born in Auburn, IA on March 5, 1935 to Edwin and Zillah (Mowry) Spafford. Her youth was filled with reading and farm life which she loved. She fondly recalled, sitting at the barn one day, when a cow started licking her until her shirt was nearly pulled off! Another time her dad came in, interrupted her reading, and set her at the helm of their two horse team while her dad and two brothers did the harvesting. Jan was grounded in practicality and wisdom.

Life had its ups and downs in her adult life, until a family enveloped her, and invited her to a new church. It was there that she found the love of her savior and a new refreshing, reviving life, in Jesus Christ. From that day forward she remained a faithful servant of God.

Living at her home in Rippey with her husband Don, children brought forth grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who were her great joy and fulfillment. She took great interest in whatever interested them. In each of those lives, while sitting at her dining room table, she listened and offered words of wisdom, depth of faith, with the Bible itself at the center.

Her interests were reading, T.V. and movies (anything with a good story.) She loved home and yard work and enjoyed her independence greatly. She kept herself busy with cleaning and making repairs in clever ways, knitting, crocheting, and quilting at the church next door. She was employed a few places, but her favorite and most long-term employment was at Alco in Perry. As of late, news and politics became of great concern, to which she shared her opinions. The stuff of life was exciting to her and she would’ve kept on living and enjoying it, if only she could.

Janice was preceded in death by her parents Edwin and Zillah, husband Donald and siblings, Eugene Spafford, Daniel (Betty) Spafford, and Barbara (John) Snyder.

Those left to cherish Janice’s memory are her three children, Richard (Teresa) Friess, Rhonda Kiner, and Diane (Rich) Pearson, as well as her step sons, Nick and Claude Friess and their families.

She is also survived by her grandchildren, Jenny (Steve), Ang (Jonathan), Matthew (Katie), Adam James, Brian (Dara), and Heather (Shawn); her great grandchildren, Alanah (Brian), Ethan, Wes, Harper, Sawyer, Layne, Julia, Skylar, Aryanna, Matthew, and Xzavier; and “the little kid”, her great GREAT grandson, Rylan.

A visitation for Janice will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00 am on Thursday, February 29, 2024 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home Perry Chapel, with a service beginning at 11:00 am. Burial will take place at a later date at the Rippey Cemetery. Online condolences for the family can be made at caldwellparrish.com.