DEKALB — Janice Ruth Stewart, 78, of DeKalb passed away Wednesday, Feb. 23 at the Prairie Pointe Assisted living and Memory Care in Sugar Grove. Jan was born Aug. 31, 1943 in Galesburg the daughter of Walter and Lela (McCullough) Haines. She married Glen Stewart in Chillicothe, Illinois in 1963. Janice was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Brenda Kizer.

For many years Jan was a faithful pastor’s wife active in many levels of the church. Later in life she became a pastor in the United Methodist Church, serving the churches at Long Creek and Dalton City. In 2002, Jan and Glen retired and for the next six years lived full time in a RV trailer and did volunteer work with Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Chatham, the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Habitat for Humanity. During that time, they traveled from Alaska to Florida and from New York to California. After Hurricane Katrina they spent much of their time in the Gulf Coast area. In 2008 they purchased a house in Paw Paw in order to spend more time with their two youngest grandsons, Michael and Sam. The family would like to express heart felt appreciation to the staff at Prairie Pointe and Kindred Hospice for making her later days comfortable and pain free.

Jan is survived by her husband, Glen Stewart of DeKalb; two children: David (Sherry) Stewart of Logansport, Indiana and Kara (Rick) Morris of Sugar Grove; four grandchildren: Hannah (Cody Dupuis) Morris, Caleb Stewart, Michael Morris and Samuel Morris; two siblings: Denis (Janice) Haines of Olalla, Washington and Cheryl (Stan) McGaughey of Banning, California.

Visitation will be held 6-8 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27 at the Unger-Horner Funeral Home, 400 N. 6th Street, Rochelle. Visitation will also be 9:30-11 a.m, Monday at the Sycamore United Methodist Church, 160 Johnson Ave., Sycamore. Funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Monday at the church with pastors Katherine Paisley and Dan Swinson officiating. Burial will be at a later date in the Chillicothe City Cemetery. Memorials can be made to First United Methodist Church Chillicothe and Preachers’ Aid Society UMC. Visit www.ungerhorner.com for online guest book.