Janet "Mom" Mary Worcester

Janet Mary Worcester was born April 11 th , 1939 in Laurens, Iowa and passed July 4 th, 2024 in Livonia, MI at the age of 85. She is preceded in death by her parents, Mary and Henry Svejda, her 6 siblings and her son, Jeff Worcester.  Janet is survived by her loving daughter Tracy, her son in law, John, her two granddaughters, Gina and Sabrina, and grandsons Jimmy (Jessica) and Daniel and countless nieces and nephews. She will be greatly missed.  

Janet grew up in a little farmhouse with her parents, and 6 siblings, 4 brothers (Ray, Hank, Pete and Pat Svejda) and 2 sisters (Joan and Evelyn Svejda). Her hometown is where she learned the basics of farming, canning, baking, cooking those country meals and also where she developed a love of all animals.  Janet was the youngest of her siblings and the only one of her siblings born in the hospital setting, entering the world at over 10 pounds at birth.  Janet’s Mom, Mary worked 60 hours a week in a grease gun factory in a neighboring town to support the large family because Janet's Dad was ill and unable to work. They did not have much and most of their clothes were made from cloth animal feed sacks.    Her upbringing set the stage for her outlook on life, to be happy with what little she had, she never really needed or valued material stuff, she was happy and content with what she had.   

Janet was the only one of her brothers and sisters that graduated from Laurens High School. It was very important to her to give that gift of graduation to her Mom. Janet graduated at age 20 because she was accidentally shot at the age of 6 by one of her brothers who was practicing shooting cans with a shot gun in the barn. She and a friend were playing in the back of the barn (after they were told not to) and she got hit in the lower belly by the shot gun cartridge that went through the barn wood and exploded inside of her. As they did not own a car, her brother rushed her on his bike uptown to the town Doctor who had no resources to help her. Luckily, a wealthy town family who owned a car drove her over an hour to a major hospital where she had surgery and required 6 pints of her moms donated blood. It took over a year to recover.   All of the money donations that came to her from the people in Laurens, she turned that over to her Mom to help support the family.

After high school graduation at age 20, Janet moved to Kansas City, MO where all of her brothers and sisters moved to start their lives and businesses. This is where she caught the attention of Dale M. Worcester. They soon married and had 2 children, Jeff and Tracy. They spent the first 25 years living a military life through the Navy, moving around every 1 – 2 years until retirement landed them back in Detroit in 1984. They subsequently divorced after 38 years of marriage.

Janet loved all animals. She raised many litters of German Shepard puppies. She loved spending time with her family and friends, playing Bingo, going to the casino, all music, playing rummy, loved to draw horses, color, crochet and appreciated good movies. Athough Dementia captured her mind 15 years ago and interfered with who she was…she still had phases of fun, of being playful, loving, sassy and salty sometimes as she journeyed through the phases of worsening Dementia, and she had a very laid back and easy-going demeanor, not too much would get her upset.  She always had a smile for anyone.    The last 10 years was particularly difficult with the sudden loss of her son and worsening Dementia.  Janet always viewed herself as independent, “not needing any help”, and no matter what challenges appeared, she was calm and collected and she was firmly rooted in her belief in God and Jesus her entire life. Her faith was unwavering.    

Her Mass services will be held on Saturday, July 20 th, at 10:30 am at St Edith Parish 15089 Newburgh Road, Livonia, MI.    A lunch will be held right after the mass (location TBD).

In lieu of flowers and if you chose to donate, please donate to the Humane Society or any organization that helps support the wellbeing of animals.