Janel Kay DeRosier, 49, of Brainerd, passed away December 27, 2020. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, April 24, 2021 at St. Mathias Catholic Church in Fort Ripley. Family and friends are welcome to visit one hour prior to Mass at the church. Interment will follow in St. Mathias Parish Cemetery.
Janel was born February 15, 1971, in Little Falls, daughter of Dale and Judy DeRosier. As a young child, Janel liked riding bicycle, camping, and Halloween. She belonged to the Mississippi Echoes 4-H Club for ten years. One of her 4-H projects was her horse, “Satin” who she enjoyed riding with her neighbor friends. Janel graduated from Brainerd High School in 1989 and furthered her education at the College of St. Benedicts. She majored in Business and Spanish. Janel became sick her second year of college and she was forced to drop out. She was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. As she learned to live with her disease, Janel went back to school and earned an AA from Central Lakes College in Brainerd. She was able to work for the Crosby School District for a short time.
Janel enjoyed needle work and painting pictures. Later in life, she found much comfort in Bible Study. She often challenged her younger brother to games of chess and loved to play cribbage and board games – especially, Upwords. There was much time looking up words in the official Scrabble Dictionary. Most of the time, Janel was right. Her family will miss her witty sense of humor and smile.
Janel is survived by her parents, Dale and Judy; brothers, Dan (Marilyn) DeRosier, Randy (Kathy) DeRosier, all of Fort Ripley; nieces, Becky (Donald) Epidendio, of Lower Lake, CA, Ali and Emily of Fort Ripley; nephews, Mike (Emily) McDonough, of Kechi, KS, Fletcher, Ethan, Eli and Isak, all of Fort Ripley; and great-niece, Evelyn McDonough. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Ernest and Mabel Hinrichs and George and Lillian DeRosier; aunts, Pat Nelson and Barb DeRosier; and uncles, Art, Orland, Ernie, and Jerry Hinrichs, Leon and Gary DeRosier, Chuck Steltz, and Richard Brisk.
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