Rev. Janet M. Crain died peacefully on January 26, 2014 after living gracefully with Alzheimer’s for 8 years. She was the beloved wife of Dight W. Crain for 53 years.
Following God’s call, in midlife Janet enrolled at Boston University School of Theology and graduated in 1987 with her Master’s in Divinity. She was consecrated a diaconal minister in the United Methodist Church in 1987, ordained a deacon in 1996, and received the Denman Evangelism Award. From 1980 to 1998, Janet was Minister of Evangelism and Assistant Pastor of Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church in Natick, where her nurturing, caring approach to ministry brought many people to follow Christ.
Janet graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1959, where she met Dight while both were musicians in the concert band. She had a beautiful alto voice and a lifelong love of music, singing in church choirs and choruses.
After college Janet worked as an elementary school teacher in Braintree and Natick before lovingly raising her children. She was a longtime resident of Natick and Pocasset, where she enjoyed countless summer sunsets over Buzzards Bay with her family and friends. Most recently she lived at Linden Ponds in Hingham.
Born in Brockton in 1938 and raised in Randolph, Janet was the daughter of the late Doris (Ernest) and Melville Isaac. She leaves her husband Dight; her son Andrew and wife Mary of Mattapoisett; her daughter Susan Yardley and husband Daniel of Matthews, NC; her grandchildren James, Joseph, Elizabeth, Timothy and Abigail Yardley and Julia and Matthew Crain; her brother Rev. Donald Isaac and wife Patricia Isaac of Rockland; her sister Claire Stahl of Dearborn, MI; her sister-in-law Dorothy C. Molind and husband Dr. Samuel Molind of Bristol, TN; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her daughter-in-law Meg Torrey Crain.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend her Funeral Service on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 11:00 A.M. at the Fisk Memorial United Methodist Church, 106 Walnut Street, Natick.
Visiting hours in the John Everett and Sons Funeral Home 4 Park Street,at Natick Common, are Friday, January 31st from 4:00 to 8:00 P.M
Donations in Janet’s memory may be made to Beacon Hospice, 32 Resnik Road, Suite 3, Plymouth, MA 02360.