Janice Larae "Jan" Greene

Janice L. “Jan” Greene, 64 of the Fort Totten, ND area passed away on Tuesday, January 15, 2013 at Altru Hospital, Grand Forks, ND. Mass of the Resurrection for Jan will be held on Saturday, January 19, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, St. Michael, ND. Fr. Brian Moen and Fr. Chuck Leute OP will concelebrate the Mass and burial will be in the spring in St. Michael’s Catholic Cemetery. Following mass there will be a meal served at the St. Michael Wellness Center. Visitation will be held on Friday from 5:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. at St. Michael’s Catholic Church and on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until time of the funeral Mass. The Rosary and Scripture Service will be on Friday at 7:00 p.m. in the church. The procession to St. Michael will leave at 4:00 p.m. on Friday from Wal-Mart. Serving as Pallbearers for Jan will be Matthew “Joe” Longie, Douglas “Chuck” Longie, Chris Morin, Morley Peterson, Bob Smith, Felix Diaz, Ermen Brown and Mitch Omen. Music will be provided by Sister Marguerite Striefel and the Spirit Lake Nation Drum Group. Reading the Scriptures will be Joanne Striefel and Kelly Gannon, bringing forth the gifts will be Joe Charboneau and Dominic Baker. Jan’s Honorary Bearers are all of her family, many friends, past and present co-workers and all in attendance at the funeral service. The family would like to extend a very special thank you to the Altru Medical Staff, Dr. Ali and nurse Tyler Sand for their hard work, courageous effort and compassion shown to Jan and the family. Janice Larae, daughter of Ray and Marion (Smith) Marquart was born on July 2, 1948 at Grafton, ND. She grew up and was educated in Erskine, Minnesota and graduated from Crookston High School with the class of 1966. She continued her education at Bemidji State University, graduating with a degree in Education. She taught in a variety of places including military schools in Germany and Japan. Jan began her career in 1984 at Fort Totten teaching the elementary grades and high school. She also continued her education and received a Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Development from UND, Grand Forks. Janice was teaching at the Fort Totten Public School when she met Orrin Greene. They were united in marriage on October 18, 1986 at Crookston, MN. They established their home in the Fort Totten area where they lived and worked through the years and continued to call home at the time of her death. Jan held a variety of positions within the educational system, including Director of the Head Start Program, 21st Century Program and at the time of her death she was the Title I School Wide Director. She also served as an Advisor to many high school students. Each position was a challenge, but Jan’s goal was always to impact the students and their families in the most positive way possible. She dedicated her life to her students and to helping anyone who needed her and to make sure each and every contact she had with students, faculty and families were positive and made an impact on their lives. Jan was a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church. She loved music, singing, gardening, needlework and reading. She was an excellent cook and enjoyed baking. Her “Christmas Basket” of goodies and candies were received with great joy by everyone honored to be on her list. She enjoyed cooking for family get-togethers and Jan always made sure that everyone had their favorite dish served at the table. Orrin and Jan enjoyed traveling to Minnesota on weekends to visit her sister Judy along with their annual summer vacation trip to the lake home of Bob and Norma Gross. She had a passion for ANYTHING that was “Scooby Doo”. When visitors came they could always count on opening the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine and take a handful of M&M treats as Orrin and Jan made sure it was filled up for their enjoyment. Anything that Jan could share or do to help out families, she did it. Her smile, laughter and positive outlook on life will truly be missed. Jan is survived by her husband, Orrin; step children, Carolyn (Chris) Nelson, Mary (Roy) Greene-Trottier, Nancy (Jerry) Robertson, Ryan (Sarah) Schloss and Priscilla IronHawk; numerous step grandchildren; numerous step great grandchildren; sister, Judy Ness of Erskine, MN; brother, John (Conny) Marquart of Fargo, ND; many nieces, nephews and cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, James Marquart; step sons, Greg Greene and Curtis Greene; three step grandchildren; brother-in-law, Royal Ness.