Janis Short

My sweet mother was born on 11-27-28 in Minneapolis, Minnesota and died on 6-30-24 in Salt Lake City, Utah, at the age of 95.  Her mother was Elsie Olena Pereson Slettehaugh and her father was Andreas Hans Slettehaugh, both children of Norwegian immigrants.  She was a graduate of Washburn High School in Minneapolis.  She married Jerome John Holmer in 1954 and they had one daughter, Susan Corinne.  They later divorced and she married Walter George Short in 1982.  Both preceded her in death.

My mom loved spending time with her friends and was very close to her brother, Alan, and all of her cousins growing up.  She was known to them as “Janny”.  Her favorite place in the world was Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding areas as she worked there for two summers as a maid at the Old Faithful Inn during her high school years.  

Mom worked as a bookkeeper and loved working with numbers.  She was happy to retire, though, so she could spend more time with her beloved grandsons.  Every time I visited her, she would ask about them and say “you have two boys you can be so proud of!”

She lived in many different places as an adult but came to live in Salt Lake City with us in 2014 following the death of her second husband.  She spent the last 7 years of her life in assisted living.

My mom was the most cheerful, upbeat, sweet and caring person you could ever meet.  Her cup was always half full.  She always had a smile on her face and got excited over the littlest things!  She loved to do puzzles of all sorts and loved to watch sports on TV, particularly golf and football.  She was a huge fan of the Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers.  She loved dogs and animals of all kinds and they loved her – I think they could sense that she was a kind and gentle soul.  She loved to read and subscribed to several newspapers and magazines.  She particularly loved mysteries and read every word James Patterson ever wrote!

I will miss her beautiful smile, her laugh, and the way she lit up whenever I walked into her room.

Mom had been a member of Mayflower Congregational Church for many years until she moved away from Minnesota and had volunteered in the nursery and served as a deacon.

She was cremated and cared for with dignity and compassion at Starks Funeral Home and her ashes were interred at Lakewood Cemetery in Minnesota.

She was preceded in death by her brother, Alan Slettehaugh, and her husband Walter Short.  She leaves behind her daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Michael Diehl, and her grandsons, Joseph and Christopher Diehl, as well as cousins, nieces and a nephew, and friends.  She is  and will always be missed.