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Wow, where do we start. She was born in Biddleborn, Illinois on March 8, 1936 to Viola and Sylvester Sinn. She was the oldest and had 3 sisters and 4 brothers. Janet graduated from Marissa High School, Marissa, IL. She married Delmar Knecht and together they had 4 children, Lynne, Terry, Tim and Mark.

Mom was such a sweet lady who loved life and all it had to offer. She was afforded many opportunities in her younger years as the Executive Assistant to the Base Commander of Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. She worked hard and set wonderful examples for those around her, and she carried that into her family life. Mom was an avid reader, was very intelligent and was a wiz with crossword puzzles until about the last 5 years or so.

She loved her family and was always there whenever possible for Tim and Mark's little league baseball and basketball games, driving us to piano lessons and band practice and dance practice.

She and her Mother, Viola, enjoyed hanging wallpaper together, when that was the thing back in the day, and they were known for the nice work they did. Mom also had a very keen eye for decorating and flower arranging. She also taught Lynne and Terry how to sew. She loved beautiful flowers and gardening, oh, and she enjoyed canning the harvest from the garden. Her Mother has passed down the best dill pickle recipe to us! And Mom knew how to cook and bake...everything was always delicious! She was very generous with teaching each of us how to maneuver our way through the kitchen!

Mom was a child of God, and served on many church committees, as well as occasionally playing the organ in church. She was always reading her devotions and Bible study each morning, until about 4 years ago, when this became more challenging for her.

She loved to play the piano, organ and accordion. Mom played music by ear, but learned to read music. She loved to dance, and when the polka music came on, even towards the end of her journey, we were able to get her up and dance for a little bit...it always brought a sweet smile to her face. Music gave her much joy, as did her four children, Lynne Knecht of Americus, GA; Terry Thorpe (Tom) of Americus, GA; Tim Knecht, DMD (Marilyn) of Russellville, KY; and Mark Knecht (Sloan) of Paducah, KY.

Janet's grandchildren are: Ryan Thorpe, Jeffrey Thorpe (Katrina), Katelyn Thorpe, Katie Knecht and Paige Keeling (Kevin). She also had great-grandchildren: Natalia and Alana Thorpe, Aubree and Landon Thorpe and Whitlee Ray.

I'm sure we have all have known someone with Alzheimer's or Dementia-related challenges, and we must find a cure for this insidious disease. It is robbing so very many families of their loved ones. Sadly, it is the disease of long goodbyes.