Janie Arnold of Foley passed away in her sleep one day before her 94th birthday.
She was born on a dirt farm in Climax, Ga. Both parents had died when she was 11, and her two brothers were sent to live with various relatives. The separation made their bond greater.
As a teenager, Janie’s family formed a musical band and performed at weddings, parties, etc., throughout Grady and Decatur Georgia counties.
Janie and her husband, Bentley, who died from cancer in 1965, had two daughters, Elaine and Wista.
Janie and Bentley moved from Georgia to Miami, Fla., where he owned a grocery store with his brother. Janie got her accounting degree and had a successful career in Miami, during which she was president of the Professional Business Woman, among her other many activities.
She never fully recovered from the loss of her younger daughter, Wista, to cancer in 2010. However, she remained close to Wista’s three daughters and granddaughters.
Janie never remarried, and in 2005 moved to Foley to live near her daughter and best friend, Elaine Mather and son-in-law Nick. She initially missed Miami, but quickly adopted Alabama as her home.
She was active in the Foley Senior Center, Baldwin Regional Medical Senior Circle, Orange Beach/Gulf Shores Newcomers Club and the M. Snook YMCA.
Janie was a very talented seamstress, sewing for friends and family. She loved to travel and took every inaugural cruise aboard the Norway, as well as plane, train and car trips throughout the USA.
In addition to her daughter and grandchildren, Janie leaves behind one cousin, three nieces, two nephews and several pseudo relatives who call her Aunt Janie.
She had a great sense of humor, loved to tell a story and was always laughing. Everyone she met instantly became her friend.
To know her was to love her, and we all miss her very much.
At her request there will be no funeral or memorial service. She asks her friends to remember the fun you had and the joy you each brought to her life.
Arrangements by Wolfe-Bayview Funeral Homes & Crematory Inc., 2551 S. McKenzie St., Foley, AL 36535, 251-943-2391, www.wolfefuneralhomes.com.
