Janet Leigh Henry Vannest of Gladwin, Michigan went to be with her Lord and Savior at the age of 82 on Thursday, November 10, 2022, at her home surrounded by her family. She was a devoted wife, mother, aunt, grandma, and friend who touched many lives through her love for Jesus.
Janet was born in Bay City General Hospital on July 3, 1940, to Ed and Dorothy Henry. The oldest of four children, she grew up in Beaverton, graduating from Beaverton High School. Her parents attended Hope Baptist Church, and there her faith grew and developed through the years. With a desire to serve the Lord and others, she enrolled in Prairie Bible Institute to study missions and later pursued her LPN in nursing at Hurley School of Nursing and Midland School of Nursing.
While she was working as a nurse at Midland County Hospital, she met her future husband, Byron Vannest, on a blind date. They were married on August 17, 1968, at Calvary Baptist Church of Midland. They settled in Gladwin and raised their family of three children, Stephen, Becky, and Nathan on the Vannest family centennial farm.
Janet had many adventures as she learned to be a farm wife, but her greatest passion was rearing her children in the Lord and serving Him by teaching children in junior church and using her nursing skills to care for others. Special memories for her children included staying at Gilman Springs Baptist Camp when she would work as camp nurse. She also loved music and sang for many years at Skeels Baptist church and later in the choir of Calvary Baptist Church.
After many years of being a stay at home mom, she returned to school to complete her RN in nursing with the plan of helping her children financially with college bills. She began working as a visiting nurse and eventually as a nursing supervisor for Heartland Home Healthcare of Bay City. She was deeply committed to her work and her patients, going above and beyond, and demonstrating her faith in the Lord through her care for others.
Janet was so generous with her time and her resources with her family and friends. She loved to care for her grandchildren, playing games with them or doing crafts. Whenever there was a need, she could be counted upon to listen, counsel, and help as she could. She would say that she wanted home to be a place to which her family could always return and feel rest, security, understanding, and love. After retiring, Janet was
Janet Vannest
called to the ministry of teaching Child Evangelism Fellowship Bible clubs in area schools, including Harrison, Roscommon, and Houghton Lake Public Schools. She was affectionately known to the children as “Aunt Janet” and just delighted in teaching them God’s word and loving them as a grandma. In her words, “One of the joys I have when I teach Bible club…is to look in the faces of the children. They are so interested, earnest, and desiring to know God and to please Him. When the Good News of the Gospel is presented to young children early on, it is such a joy to see them accept Christ in complete faith and then watch them grow week by week.”
Janet was preceded to Heaven by her parents, Ed and Dorothy Henry; her brother, Jim Henry; and her sister, Mickey Talley.
She is survived by her husband, Byron Vannest; her brother, Dick Henry and his wife Kay; her brother-in-law, Kevin Talley; and her sister-in-law, Diana Liedtke. She is also survived by her children, Stephen and Jennifer Vannest, Dean and Becky (Vannest) Lantinga, and Nathan and Melissa Vannest; as well as her grandchildren, Dillon, Emma, Alexia, Noah, Natalie, Jace, Aysah, and Tristan.
The visitation will be held at Lee Ramsey Funeral Home on Friday, November 18 from 3-8 p.m. and the funeral services will be held at Calvary Baptist Church of West Branch on Saturday, November 19 at 10:30 a.m. A brief graveside service will be held at Ridge Road Cemetery at 2:30 p.m.
From Janet’s writings: “Psalms 63:11 ‘O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.’ God often puts us in desert places to make us thirsty for Him, for His Word, for His fellowship, and for His deliverance. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, ‘Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life’. John 4:14. No water can satisfy like the Water of Life.” – Janet Vannest