Janet Sabina

Janet Irene Sabina passed away on August 7th, 2021 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.  She was 89 years old.

Janet was born to Irene and Edwin Eriksen in Toledo, Ohio, July 22nd, 1932, the second of four children.  She graduated from Miami of Ohio University. An adventurous young woman, she booked passage to Norway on a steamship during his college years with little money and boundless enthusiasm, returning weeks later than planned with stories that would enrich her family’s lives and perhaps fuel their own passions for life.

After graduation she moved to Pittsburgh, Pa. for her first job, another bold decision for a young woman in the early 1950s.  Janet met Bill Sabina in church (where many of her dearest friends would always come from) in Pittsburgh, and they were married in 1955:  their marriage lasted until Bill’s passing in 2019.  Their three sons were born in Pittsburgh, but the family moved to Evergreen, Colorado in 1974 (helped along by a timely push by Janet), and her family has lived in various Western locations ever since.  All her sons agree that the move was a great idea!

After 18 years in the Denver area, Bill and Janet lived almost 20 years in Sedona, AZ before returning to Colorado in 2012.

In addition to being the best mother anyone could hope for (according to her admittedly biased sons), Janet selflessly welcomed Bill’s teenage younger sister Kathy, orphaned at age 10, into their home.  While raising three toddlers, Janet helped steer Kathy through the challenges of late teen life in the 1960s, and into her own strong adulthood.  Kathy would later say (many times) that Janet was the most important person in her life.

As a professional, Janet had a long career in the church, as a director of Christian Education at several churches in the Denver area, and as a writer of Christian education curriculum for several religious publishing houses.  A lifelong writer, Janet also published “I Will Not Weep: A Novel of the Navaho Long Walk and Exile”, and “Can’t We DO Something? Memoir of Resistance to a Four Lane Highway”, an account of the successful effort to push the Arizona Department of Transportation to build a more context-sensitive road between I-15 and Sedona (an effort in which Janet and Bill played key roles).

Janet and Bill lived a long life together, through ups and downs (mostly ups), and they supported each other with extraordinary devotion throughout their long lives together, Bill helping Janet in the aftermath of a serious spinal injury in the early 1990s, and Janet supporting Bill during his Alzheimer’s-driven decline at the end of his life.  They were an inspiration to everyone who knew them at every phase of their life together.

Janet’s attitude and energy were infectious. She always had a smile or a laugh for everyone she met.  Her children and grandchildren regularly looked to her for thoughtful counsel.  Her kindness and wisdom lifted up the world around her wherever she went.  Like all such people, she is not truly gone, but lives on in the effect she had on her family, friends, readers, and community.

Janet is survived by her three sons: Craig, of Hailey, Idaho; Erik of Denver, Colorado, and Scott of Evergreen, Colorado.  She is also survived by ten grandchildren, her sisters Carolyn Bartell of Parker, Colorado and Sharon Bauman of Cincinnati, Ohio.

At the time of her passing, Janet was a member of Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church.  A memorial of her life will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2021 at 4:00pm at Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church located at 1100 Fillmore Street, Denver, CO 80206. Zoom attendance is available.  If you are interested in attending virtually please email Erik at sabianerik@gmail .com for the link.

Persons wishing to memorialize Janet with a gift are encouraged to donate to the church (checks are suggested, mailed to 1100 Fillmore Street, Denver, CO 80206).

Rest in peace, beloved daughter, wife, mother, confidante, and friend to so many. We will all strive to honor you by carrying on your legacy as we live out our own lives and pass on your many gifts to those we know and love.