Janet (Tibor) Stricklan

     Janet Marlee (Tibor) Stricklan, 77, a recent resident of Gooding, Idaho and formerly of Florida, passed away on Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Bennett Hills Assisted Care in Gooding.

     Janet Marlee Tibor started life on this earth in the booming metropolis of American Falls, Idaho, in the spring of 1942, just after the Great Depression and during World War II. Born just before the Baby Boomer years to Tom and Minnie Tibor, she was the second child and eldest daughter of their wonderful brood of six children. Growing up in a large Catholic family in the Power County Seat on the Snake River, she learned to cook, bake, can, clean, sew, babysit, garden, camp, hunt, fish, tie knots, drive, genuflect and pray.

     Growing up, she had to walk to school, uphill both ways, in the snow and driving wind (she was not barefoot), all the way across the street from her home. She survived the long treks and graduated high school in 1960. Soon after graduation, she became something of a pioneer and started a string of family firsts, making her “dash” fairly impressive.

     Jan was the first of her siblings to marry. Jan and her starter husband, Bill, were married in 1961. Her next family first was to create Jenifer, born in 1962, who is the first of Jan’s most awesome children, as well as the first of Tom and Minnie’s 22 most awesome grandchildren.

     Not long after Jenifer’s birth, Jan continued her string of firsts by divorcing her Catholic husband. Not one to pass up a gauntlet, she then married a protestant, Donald Stricklan in 1965, and they created Jan’s most awesome children numbers two and three, Melissa in 1968 and Mark in 1970.

     Jan and her most awesome children followed Don from Idaho to Oklahoma in 1973, where Don completed seminary, making Jan not just a recovering Catholic, but a minister’s wife to boot. The family then moved to churches in Colorado in 1977, and Michigan in 1979. After earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Business from Sienna Height College, becoming an empty nester and living for more than 20 years in Michigan, Jan told Don it was time to move again, and they packed up their belongings in 1999 and headed to Florida, like all Michigan residents eventually do. They enjoyed 21 years in Panama City, Florida, but Hurricane Michael convinced them it was time to return to their roots and they headed back to Idaho in 2019.

     Along Jan’s journey, she was able to travel to every state in the United States, as well as to Germany, France, Luxembourg, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and England. Jan never met a stranger and made friends everywhere she went. Her gift of gab ensured she could talk to anyone and everyone, and usually for long periods of time. (This was especially apparent during another family first when she met President and Mrs. Carter…)

     She loved history and trivia, and was proud to beat most, if not all, of her friends and family at Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit. She also loved imparting nuggets of knowledge and was a lifelong teacher, both formally and informally. She had the honor of becoming a grandmother to four most awesome grandchildren, with her eldest grandchild being a first, yet again, as the first great grandchild for Tom and Minnie.

     Jan, sadly, has collected another family first and is the first of her siblings to proceed to heaven and join her parents, Tom and Minnie Tibor and brother-in-laws Joe Calanni and Ray Stricklan. She is survived by her husband of over 54 ½ years, Don Stricklan; her three children, Jenifer (Brian) Cloherty, Melissa (Dixie) Duke and Mark (Kristen Hague) Stricklan; grandchildren Erika (Joshua) Sly, Sean Cloherty, Laura Errett, and Caitlin Cloherty; siblings Jim (Ann) Tibor, Pat Calanni, Karen (Hamp) Jenkins, John (Loretta) Tibor, and Jerry (Jane) Tibor; her brother-in-law Ross (Toni) Stricklan, sister-in-law Claudine Stricklan, and sister-in-law Letty (Jerry) Beerly; nieces and nephews galore, as well as too many friends to mention from all over the world.

     Jan’s celebration of life will be at 10:30 am on February 29, 2020, in the Demaray Funeral Service - Gooding Chapel in Gooding ID.

     In lieu of flowers/gifts, Jan’s family asks you to please “pay it forward” in Jan’s name. Buy someone a meal or cup of coffee, give some attention or money to a street entertainer, clean trash up on the beach or in the park, hold a door, be patient with your wait staff, hug those who will accept one, and share love, kindness and knowledge whenever possible.

     Funeral and cremation arrangements are under the care and direction of Demaray Funeral Service - Gooding Chapel.

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