Janet E. Sawyer, 92, of ManorCare, Champaign, died at 4:00 a.m. Feb. 1, 2007, at the home of her daughter, Charlotte Green, Champaign. Visitation will be Sunday, Feb. 4th, from 2-4 p.m. at Renner-Wikoff Chapel, 1900 S. Philo Rd., Urbana. The memorial service will be held Monday, Feb. 5th, at 11:00 a.m., at the First United Methodist Church, 210 W. Church, Champaign. The Rev. Jim Elder and the Rev. Don Walden will officiate. Burial will be in Clements Cemetery, Urbana. Janet was born April 3, 1914 in Spokane, Washington to Christian and Ida Curry Mumm. She married Alex Sawyer on Dec. 22, 1941 in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is survived by her daughters: Kathryn (Alan) Garrison of Mackinaw, Margaret (Greg) Stanton of Champaign, Charlotte Green of Champaign, and Ellen (Steve) Cantrell of Edelstein, and sons: Frank of Oak Park, and Ralph (Becky) of Spring Bay. Grandchildren include Anita Sorrells, Katie Garrison, Christopher (Patti) Stanton, Gabriel Stanton, Jordan Green, Alice Green, Joseph Cantrell, Benjamin Cantrell, Patrick Cantrell, and Adam Sawyer. Great-grandchildren include Robert, Zech, Joshua, and Allyssa Sorrells. Family was very important to Janet. Other cherished surviving family members include sisters-in-law, Greta Mumm and Alice Sawyer, as well as many nieces and nephews. Janet Sawyer was preceded in death by her husband of over sixty years, Alex Sawyer, on June 10, 2002. Her brother, Robert Mumm, her sister, Laura Ann Mackin, brother-in-law, Don Mackin, son-in-law Richard Green, and grandson, John Matthew Sederholm also preceded her in death. Memorial contributions may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Champaign, empty tomb, or DBSA U-C (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance Urbana-Champaign). Janet grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota surrounded by a loving family. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a major in library science in 1936. After graduation, she obtained a job in Kansas City, Missouri where she worked as an assistant children's librarian at the West Branch Library and the Central Library. It was in Kansas City that she met Alex Sawyer, a native of Missouri who was then working for the YMCA. After Janet and Alex married, they moved to Champaign-Urbana in August 1942. Alex was a civilian employee at Chanute Field, and Janet was a homemaker. Janet and Alex lived in their home on 2 A½ acres northeast of Urbana from 1950 until April of 2001 when they both moved to ManorCare Health Services in Champaign. Janet was an active member of the community. She was a member of the First United Methodist Church since the early days of the couple's life in Champaign-Urbana. She volunteered with the Cub Scouts as Den Mother or Den Leader Coach for 8 years. She was a leader of the Blue Mound 4-H Club for 13 years. She was a member of the Blue Mound Unit of Homemaker's Extension since 1954 until it disbanded several years ago; she then joined the Somer Township Unit. She was Public Information Chairman for her unit, then for the Champaign County Homemakers Extension Association (HEA). She served for two years as Public Information Director for the board of the state organization, Illinois Homemakers Extension Federation. While she was on the county HEA board, she compiled the county unit news for the two local papers. When she went off the county board, she began a five-year stint of editing and compiling the news of 4-H clubs in Champaign County for the local newspapers. Janet Sawyer was employed in the Binding Division of the University of Illinois Library from 1973-1984 when she retired at age 70. She volunteered in the library at First United Methodist Church for many years after that. Janet was the contact person for the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance Urbana-Champaign since its organization in 1990 until she had to give up the job because of her hospitalization in March 2001. She wrote the lesson, "The Many Faces of Mental Health", for Champaign County HEA and presented it to local leaders, as well as to her own and another unit. As late as October 2001, she sent a letter to the editor of the News Gazette urging that attention be given to National Depression Screening Days and encouraging people who need help with depression to seek it. She was a member of the Red Herring Poetry Workshop; some of her poems have appeared in a number of the annual publications of Matrix published by the poetry workshop. Janet Sawyer also wrote a substantial portion of a book published in 1999 called An Aim for the Homemaker: 75 Years of Education and Outreach 1924-1999. This book is the history of the state homemakers extension organization, now called Illinois Association for Home and Community Education. Janet Sawyer was a loving wife and mother, a fond grandmother, a good friend who always had time for others, an inveterate recycler, a gardener and preserver of foods, a homemaker, a lover of books, an excellent letter writer, a poet, and a writer of family history. She always had a special word for each person she came in contact with whether it was to retell a family story or offer encouragement to someone who might need lifting up. She will be greatly missed. Condolences may be offered at www.renner-wikoffchapel.com.