Janet Van Elslander

Janet was born in Detroit on September 29, 1940, to Frank and Charlotte Majewski. She is predeceased by her husband of 57 years Ed, her brother, Dr. Alvin J. Majewski and sister Geraldine Gangluff. She is survived by her son Roger Van Elslander and her daughter and son-in-law Karen and Christopher Roosen.

Janet grew up in the Polish neighborhood near St. Hyacinth Catholic Church in Detroit. She loved living in the upstairs flat above her beloved Babcia and Dziazia. Her Babcia cooked, baked and canned, and thus began Janet’s love of the same. Growing up, she was active in the Polish Falcons, a youth group that promoted physical fitness, social gatherings and cultural programs within the Polish community.

She attended St. Hyacinth Elementary School, Felician Academy High School and then Wayne State University. As a business student at Wayne State University, she pledged Alpha Gamma Delta fraternity. Along with her fellow sisters they stole/borrowed the trophies from the Theta Tau Professional Engineering Fraternity house which led to the Theta Taus kidnapping the Alpha Gamma Delta chapter president – Janet - to hold her for ransom to get the trophies back. Ed Van Elslander hit it off with Janet. He lived near and drove her home after the failed kidnapping attempt.

Janet and Ed married on October 20, 1962. They built their home in Warren in 1964. Janet left her executive secretary position after their son Roger Leon was born in August 1965 and daughter Karen Rose in 1969.

Janet loved being a stay-at-home mom. She loved to cook and bake. She sewed all of Roger and Karen’s Halloween costumes and all of Karen’s clothes until she started wearing a uniform in 1st grade. She drove Roger to hockey and Karen to dance classes. Janet took cake decorating lessons and became so proficient she started a business making cakes. She expanded to wedding cakes and began teaching adult ed courses in cake decorating for Utica Community Schools. Her homemade chocolates were a favorite.

When Roger and Karen were students at St. Vincent Ferrer, she was asked to be the school librarian. She took the job and enjoyed working at the school. After Roger and Karen were in high school, she went back to her training as a bookkeeper and returned to working for the Catholic Church. She was a bookkeeper at various parishes until her retirement.

Janet and Ed loved to entertain. They hosted cook outs in the summer, Polish parties in November, and of course holiday gatherings with family and friends. An invitation to their house for yummy homemade food was sought after. She didn’t lose her desire to cook dinner every night and as she would say “and twice on Sundays plus making a homemade dessert!”

Janet and Ed also loved to travel. They enjoyed family vacations, Burroughs Farms, canoeing on the Au Sable in Grayling, Arizona in the winter during retirement, bus tours with the Theta Taus or any other opportunity “to go”. Ed would map out the trip and Janet would load the car - she had a special way of making everything fit.

Janet enjoyed shopping. She and best friend Dorothee Boczar were pros! They knew all the best places, from going downtown to Hudson's, across town to Twelve Oaks, and all the way to the Brighton Farmers market on Saturday mornings. Dorothee was her co-pilot, and they never got lost but rather, “took the scenic route!” They also shared a love of ice cream. Janet fully subscribed to Dorothee saying, “You always have room for ice cream because it melts and fills in the cracks!”

Her caregivers at Fairmont of Northville Assisted Living each told us she was their favorite. They said she was so kind, she never gave anyone a hard time and was always insisting they help themselves to a piece of candy or a treat bag of cookies.

She is loved, and she is missed by so many.

Visitation Friday, June 13, from 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. Rosary Service at Wysocki & Wilk Funeral Home, 29440 Ryan Road, Warren, Michigan. She will be instate on Saturday, June 14, from 9:30 a.m. until the 10:00 a.m. Funeral Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 28353 Herbert St, Madison Heights, Michigan.

In lieu of flowers, we ask for donations to the Solanus Casey Center in Detroit.

Please share a memory, thought, or prayer with the family here on Janet's online guestbook.