Madelyn R. Janiak's Obituary
Madelyn Ruth (Croswell) Janiak passed away on November 20, 2024 at the age of 98 in Altoona, FL.
Madelyn “Doody” was the youngest of 3 sisters born to Robert A. Croswell and Josephine Pendergast Croswell in Wellesley, MA. She graduated from Wellesley High School in 1945 and was working as a bookkeeper when she met and married Stanley (Stacey) W. Janiak of Needham, MA in a private NH ceremony. She and Stacey were together for 73 years during which time she more than held her own raising 4 sons. Doody and Stacey started married life in Needham’s “GI Village” after his Naval service completed and soon moved the growing family to Natick, MA where all 4 boys graduated from Natick High School. When Stacey created Janiak Flooring Co. Doody did the books and was the coordinator behind the scenes. When her boys moved out on their own, Doody returned to the workforce as a pre-school and kindergarten teacher in Wellesley for several years. She and Stacey were active in purchasing, and rebuilding second homes in Duxbury, MA and then Webster, NH, which was a labor of love and paved the way for a future move to Live Oak, Florida where they designed and had built a home near her parents and aunt. While in Live Oak they purchased and rebuilt 2nd homes in Steinhachee, FL and Alligator Point, FL before selling their Live Oak residence for a home in San Mateo, FL with access to the St. John’s River. In 2018, Doody and Stacey moved to a garden apartment in the Lakeview Terrace Continuing Care Community in Altoona Florida.
Doody was predeceased by her husband Stacey (2018) and son Robert (2020). Survivors include sons John J. Janiak (Palatka, FL), Stan Jr. and his wife Cynthia Burnham Janiak (Melvin Village, NH), Andrew and his wife Candace Lord (Rye, NH), daughter-in-law Charlene Janiak (Boise, ID), Grandchildren Kevin Janiak and his wife Valerie Harrison (Oakland, CA), Derek Janiak and his wife Logan Shannon (Manchester, NH), Michael Janiak and his wife Katie M Janiak (Boise, ID), Katie Anne Janiak (Boise, ID), Kristen Lynch and her husband Paris Wallace (Miami, FL), great grandchild Penelope Rose Janiak (Oakland, CA), and Sister-in-Law (& Godchild) Diane Janiak Thomas and her husband Bernie Thomas (Framingham, MA).
In lieu of Flowers, memorial gifts may be directed to the “National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled Library of Congress” who provide audio books for the visually impaired.
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