Janet Ruwe

Funeral Service: Monday, June 17th, 2:30pm Holy Apostles Catholic Church;

Reception to follow.

Service will be livestreamed on Facebook on the Holy Apostles Meridian page or at

https://holyapostlesmeridian.net/mass/livestream/

Janet Ruwe died peacefully with her family around her on June 12th, 2024. 

Janet was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin  in 1940 to Marcella and Edward Sedlachek, the eldest of seven children. She helped her dad out in his business, Eddie’s Evergreen Marina, and loved telling the story of how she could parallel park boat trailers with the best of them. Janet graduated with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and taught in Arizona, California, and Idaho. 

Janet moved to Idaho when her husband Lee was transferred to Boise with the Morrison Knudsen company in 1972. It was the perfect place to raise six children. Family came first, and Janet loved every minute of being a mother. She could cook up a pot of chili for eight people on a moment's notice, and stretch it with elbow noodles. A 9x13 cake with icing lasted for two meals, and she would split a piece of gum six ways so no child was left out. Even as an empty nester, she was still cooking for eight.

She was the creative force behind the Ruwe Family Band, which consisted of Janet, her husband Lee, and their six children. They performed bluegrass music around the United States in the 1980s and 1990s.  After they received the National Amateur Musical Family of the Year award in 1983, they performed nationally on the CBS Morning News Show on Thanksgiving Day.

She loved being a grandmother and supported each grandchild in every endeavor; she was everyone’s biggest cheerleader. She could be found at fiddle contests, sporting events, dance recitals, concerts, plays, graduations, birthdays, and anything in between. 

She read the newspaper cover to cover and never missed a word puzzle. She was an avid reader, a news junkie, and her TV was set between TCM and CNN. She was also a darn good Wheel of Fortune player. Janet loved to be in style; everyone commented on how hip her fashion sense was.

Janet was a 5 foot 2 force of nature. She was fiercely independent and was a self-made woman. She had a knack for real estate, an eye for decorating, and could see the potential in anything. She loved a good bargain. She loved if something were on sale, but loved it even more if it were on clearance. She saw the best in everyone she met. She had an innate sense of fairness; she loved nothing more than an underdog story. Any conversation with Janet was authentic; she was never a person to put on airs. She was a lifelong member of Holy Apostles Catholic Church, was a lector at the five o’clock Mass, served on the parish council, made rosaries with the parish rosary making group, and did home visits for St. Vincent de Paul.

Janet was in the first cohort of Idaho kindergarten teachers when the Idaho legislature funded public kindergarten in 1975. With a start-up budget of $50 and the rented basement of a grange hall, Janet launched her career as a Meridian (West Ada) kindergarten teacher. She taught for 25 years at Ustick, McMillan, and Pioneer Elementary Schools and received the 1989 Idaho US West Outstanding Teacher of the Year and was recognized by Governor Cecil D. Andrus. Additionally, she was awarded Disney Teacher of the Year in 1990 Janet was an extraordinarily gifted teacher of young children and made meaningful connections with not just children but their families as well.

Janet is survived by her six children: Kiley Ruwe Shaw (Steve), Donelle Ruwe (Jim Leve), Kendra Ruwe Clark (Curt), Trenton Ruwe, Chadley Ruwe (Diane), and Ruston Ruwe (Monique); and her 12 grandchildren (Maddie Shaw, Ellie Shaw, Brooklyn Ruwe, Porter Ruwe, Benjamin Ruwe, Reilly Ruwe, Jack Ruwe, Jaydon Clark, Isabelle Clark, Beck Korany-Every, Alex Ruwe, and James Leve).

Additionally Janet is survived by her 6 younger siblings: Francis Sedlachek, Alfred Sedlachek, Marvin Sedlachek, Richard Sedlachek, Susan Sedlachek and Katherine Sedlachek.

In lieu of flowers, GIFTS may be made to the Idaho Food Bank or St. Vincent De Paul Society at Holy Apostles Church in Meridian, Idaho.