Janette Doris (Smith) Downing

Janette Downing, 89, passed away peacefully Friday, April 11, 2025 at the GoldPine Home in Bemidji, Minnesota.

Memorial services will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at Evangelical Covenant Church, Bemidji. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church.

Janette Doris Smith was born November 1, 1935 to E. Cradow and Doris (Mathis) Smith in McAlester, Oklahoma. They moved to Wagoner, Oklahoma in 1937, where Janette grew up, living in an apartment above her father’s Chevrolet dealership and garage for a number of years. As a child, Janette spent many hours playing in the garage and helping in the office, and she once even had a dance there in high school. In 1956, after graduating from Northeastern State Teachers College in Tahlequah, Oklahoma (now Northeastern State University) with a degree in Education and Home Economics, Janette married Lewis (Jack) Downing, also of Wagoner. They were married for nearly 25 years and blessed with three children: David, Brian, and Laura. The couple lived in Wagoner for three years, where Janette taught in the elementary school. They then moved to Norman, Oklahoma for Jack to pursue a Ph.D, and Janette continued her teaching career there. A position for Jack at Bemidji State College (now Bemidji State University) brought the growing family to Bemidji, Minnesota in 1961 and Janette stopped teaching to concentrate on raising her children and on her husband’s career. In the late 1970’s, Janette returned to the workforce, first working at Allan Oman Insurance Agency in Bemidji, then for the area Girl Scouts office, a job which kept her traveling around the region doing leadership training. She ultimately took a position as the Volunteer Coordinator at the Beltrami County Nursing Home (now Havenwood) in Bemidji, where she worked for many years until retirement. Janette was very active in the Bemidji State College Faculty Wives Association. She was the ultimate hostess and planner, holding numerous gatherings and meals for faculty and students in her home. She also hosted many visiting musicians, some with national and international recognition, who were attending the BTSC Band Clinic and Conference at the college (now Bemidji MusiCamp) forging lifelong friendships with some. Janette participated in organizations and volunteered throughout her life. As a girl, she was in Rainbow Girls and was also involved in all of her own children’s activities, both school and extracurricular, as they grew up. She was a volunteer at both the original hospital on the shores of Lake Bemidji and at Bemidji’s Sanford Hospital in her later years. Janette’s faith was extremely important to her, and it played a large role in every aspect of her life. She was raised Methodist and attended the United Methodist Church in Bemidji until moving to the Bemidji Covenant Church, where she became deeply involved in various congregational ministries and Bible studies. She also devoted many years to the local interdenominational chapter of Women’s Aglow Fellowship. When Janette had time, she enjoyed playing the piano, reading the Bible and other nonfiction books, as well as drawing house plans. For many years she had a very large garden with a big patch of asparagus that all of her children threatened to destroy every year.

Janette was preceded in death by her parents, E. Cradow and Doris (Mathis) Smith and former husband, Jack Downing.

She is survived by her three children, David (Karen) of Callaway, Minnesota, Brian of Bemidji, Minnesota, and Laura of Trumann, Arkansas; a brother, Michael (Patricia) Smith, of Northfield, MN, five grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

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