Janet Youngman Spencer, a wife, mother, grandmother and longtime educator, is now on her journey home.
Surrounded by her loved ones at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, Jan left this Earth Thursday evening, April 2, 2015. She was 68.
She carried the Indian name Anpo Wicanhpi Win (Morning Star Woman).
She was born Dec. 13, 1946, in Portland, Ore., the daughter of Louis and Mary (Eagleman) Youngman. She was an enrolled member of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of Montana and a direct descendant of Many Roads, Crazy Bull, Medicine Bear, Touches the Cloud and Eagle Man.
The family moved from Montana and lived in Oregon during World War II. After the war, her family lived in Parkdale, Ore., for several years while Janet's father managed an orchard and trained horses. The family returned to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana in 1954.
She grew up in Poplar, Mont., and graduated from Poplar High School in 1966. She was the Oil Discovery Celebration princess and competed in the Miss Indian America Pageant in Sheridan, Wyo., in 1967.
Before completing college, she also performed with the Up with People troupe and toured the United States and Italy.
She attended the University of Montana and Bacone College in Oklahoma before she completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in counseling and school administration from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla.
Throughout her career, Janet worked as a special education teacher at the Nez Perce Tribal School and at Poplar, Mont., Elementary School, where she was a counselor and principal for five years.
She was a vice principal at Lapwai Middle School for three years before working at Sacajawea Junior High in Lewiston, where she was vice principal for six years and principal for five years. She also worked as a consulting special education teacher for the Lewiston School District before retiring in 2013.
Janet loved spending time with her children and grandchildren and enjoyed sewing, attending gourd dances, powwows, sweat lodges and ceremonies. She also enjoyed traveling and visited Austria several times.
She encouraged many people in her path to get an education and improve their lives. "Always to remember who you are and where you came from," Janet would say. "Get an education and be kind to people."
She is survived by her husband of 44 years, Jim Spencer; her son, Chaske Spencer; daughters Wynter Spencer and Tyger Spencer-Heald; and grandchildren Isabelle and William (Takoja). She is also survived by her sister, Myrna Charbonneau of Poplar, Mont.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Louis Youngman and Warren Youngman; and her sisters, Velma Keever, Arlene Faye Peterson and Agnes Turnbull.
Celebration of life services will be at 4 p.m. Monday at the Valley Christian Center, 3215 Echo Hills Drive, Lewiston.
Service Information
- Date & Time
- Monday, April 6, 4:00 PM
- Location
-
Echo Hills Church
3215 Echo Hills Drive
Lewiston, ID 83501
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Condolences
Steven Branting
We have lost a truly kind and classy lady.
Sunday, April 5, 2015 5:43 PM
Steve Button
My thoughts go out to your family as you mourn and grieve Jan's death. Her love and inspiration live on forever.
Sunday, April 5, 2015 9:26 AM
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