COLUMBUS, INDIANA
On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2023, Janice passed away surrounded by her family at Four Seasons Retirement Center in Columbus, Indiana. Born in 1924, Janice had just turned 99 years old and died of natural causes.
Janice was born to Earl and Nettie Miller in Peoria, Illinois, where her father was a butcher. Her family included two sisters, Billie and Patsy. The Millers relocated to Chicago where their father worked for the budding grocery store chain Jewel Tea Company and worked his way up to become a corporate executive as Jewel stores became the largest grocery store chain in Illinois.
As a teenager in suburban Park Ridge, IL, Janice went to Main Township High School, Class of 1942. She met her husband of 73 years, Warren William Baumgart Sr., in the youth group at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Park Ridge. After WWII, she married Warren in 1947 following his service in the U.S. Army and she supported him as a dental hygienist while he attended Valparaiso University in Indiana. With the help of the GI Bill, the young couple bought their first home in Park Forest, IL, a new suburb of south Chicago designed for soldiers returning from WWII. There they grew their family with three children. Janice drove a school bus around the south Chicago suburbs while her kids slept in the front seat behind her.
The family moved to Indiana in 1956. In 1964 after living in Ft. Wayne and Lafayette, Janice and Warren finally settled their family in Columbus, Indiana, where Warren was employed by Arvin Industries Inc. They were active members of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church where they enjoyed being a part of the Couples Club. Janice was also a Cub Scout Den Mother, and a teacher’s assistant at St. Peter’s Lutheran School, where over the years she had the pleasure of working alongside Delores Strietelmeier, Margaret Fenner, Susan Miller, and Kathy Eisenbraun.
Janice raised her family in Mead Village and later enjoyed the lakeside living at Grandview Lake. She loved dogs, square dancing, sewing, volunteering at the hospital, and playing card games like Euchre, and Pinochle. She was an enthusiastic Bridge player and belonged to a number of Bridge-playing groups. She and Warren frequently traveled to the Florida Keys, and traveled to Germany, Hawaii, and Alaska. They loved going on educational trips all over the U.S. with Road Scholars. Her kids still remember home-sewn Halloween costumes, and her remarkable chocolate-chip cookies packed in Pringles tubes and sent to us wherever we were living.
Janice is survived by her children Warren William Baumgart Jr. (partner Thomas Neo), Colieta Ann Browning Bloss, Rex Thomas Baumgart (wife Kathy nee Hutsen, stepson Gabriel Hilt), and one granddaughter, Haley Angelica Bloss. Preceding her in death were her husband, Warren Sr., sisters Walena, aka Billie, Yuskow (husband William) and Patricia, aka Patsy, (partner Ruth Mason), and her parents Earl A. Miller and Nettie J. (nee Woodward).
At her request, Janice’s body has been bequeathed to the Indiana University School of Medicine. There will be no funeral service. The family would like to thank Four Seasons Retirement Center and Our Hospice of South Central Indiana for all their loving help and support during our mother’s final days. Any memorials may be donated to the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Foundation, Our Hospice of South Central Indiana, or the donor’s charity of choice. A memorial of photos of Janice and Warren can be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/_456KNzVLbU
