Janet L. Meece

Janet Louise (Strychalski) Meece was born December 31, 1942, in Lebanon, Indiana, to Stanley Ambrose Strychalski and Betty Joan (Breedlove) Strychalski. Except for a very brief time when she lived in California as a baby, Janet was raised and lived her life in her hometown of Lebanon, where she was well-known and very well-loved. She graduated from Lebanon High School in 1961 and was just about as smart as anyone we’ve known. She was active throughout her school years and was an officer of the Sunshine Society, a member of the National Honor Society and Future Business Leaders of America, and she won numerous awards for her unmatched typing and shorthand skills. On June 25, 1961, Janet married Stan Meece of Lebanon. They were active members of Walnut Street Baptist Church for many years where they raised their children to know and love Jesus and where Janet was involved in several ministries, most notably her involvement with the teens and her roles as music director, pianist, and organist. She is credited with teaching numerous young people to play the piano, including her daughter and her granddaughters. Janet’s employment included J.C. Penney and Jones, Burgess, and Genarro; however, she was best known and appreciated for her dedicated service to Union Federal where she worked her way from teller to vice president. She retired after 38 years in 2008 after the bank ultimately became Huntington Bank. She also enjoyed volunteering for the Boone County Cancer Society. Janet’s interests were many. She loved to cook, read, collect, teach her grandchildren to garden, host her family, play and teach piano, travel, and put on the best and most unrivaled Christmas Eve celebrations anywhere. She learned to play violin and was starting to learn to quilt and paint. She was probably happiest when her hands were in the dirt and she was planting something! Stan learned to simply nod his head in agreement, grab the shovel, and dig a hole where he was told to do so! And, in exchange, Janet did what she did best, and she created beauty. She made something beautiful out of a bare piece of land and ultimately provided the prettiest and most charming and inviting yard to surround the home they built together in 1970. A home where everyone quite simply loved to spend time. Out of everything she did, Janet created beauty. Janet knew how to love. She loved her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, siblings, parents, nieces, nephews, and friends fiercely, selflessly, generously, and passionately. And she loved Stan with a sacrificial tenderness when he began developing serious health issues just after he retired as building inspector. Janet lived her life to make others’ lives better. It was never Janet first. It was always others. Always. Janet bravely and impressively survived multiple strokes over the past 9 years. Relentless brain injuries that stole so much from her but that never touched her faith, her humor, her quick wit, her kindness and sweet spirit, her endless generosity, or her ability to love others above herself. And on July 5, 2023, eight months to the day after losing Stan, she suffered the final one that took her home the next morning. While her family grieves the profound emptiness on earth where she once was, we rejoice in the comfort and the hope that we will see her again made new, whole, and so alive. Oh, how we love her. Janet will quite simply never be forgotten. Janet was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband, Stan. She is survived by her daughter, Jenny Drye (Steve), of Fishers, Indiana; her son, Todd Meece, of Atlanta, Michigan; four grand-children, Micailah Davis (Andrew), Madelyn Miller (Eric), Kenyon Meece (Grace), and Mallory Mack (Jalen); two step grand-daughters, Maggie Drye and Molly Drye; three great-grandsons, Andrew John Davis (“AJ”), Jordan Davis, and Jackson Davis; two great-grand-daughters, Lainey Davis and Taelyn Miller; three grand-dogs, Ripley, Yogi, and Hodey; and the memory of her favorite grand-dog, Sophie. She is also survived by her siblings, JoAnn Strychalski Brown (Troy); Chuck Strychalski (Debbie); Paul “Ditty” Strychalski (MaryAnn); and Nancy Strychalski Hummel, as well as numerous extended family members who will miss and love her for a very long time to come. Visitation is planned from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 12, 2023, at Myers Mortuary, 1502 North Lebanon Street in Lebanon, Indiana. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 13 at the funeral home. Interment will follow services at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon. The funeral service will be livestreamed and can be viewed on the Myers Mortuary Facebook page.

Janet L. Meece

December 31, 1942 - July 6, 2023