Janie Smith

Janie’s memorial service will be 2 p.m., Friday, May 13th at the Baxter Community High School Gym, 202 E. State in Baxter.

The family will greet friends from 4:30-8 p.m., Thursday, May 12th at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton.

A private family burial will be held at a later date at the Restland Cemetery in Baxter.       

In lieu of flowers the family requests memorials to the Baxter Rescue Unit. The memorials may be left at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory or at the Baxter Community High School Gym on the day of the memorial service. Memorials may also be mailed to the funeral home, please add Attn: Smith Family on the envelope.

Janie the daughter of Gary G. and Carol Jean Petermeier Pyle, was born in Marshalltown, Iowa. She was a graduate of Baxter Community School in 1971.

On June 20, 1975, Janie was united in marriage with Stephen C. “Smitty” Smith in Newton, Iowa. They were blessed with two sons, Jeremy and Justin. Janie worked as a bookkeeper and project manager. She was currently working for Conover Auction Service Inc. She was a member of the Baxter Rescue Unit for 36 years. She was also a member of the Baxter U. C. C. Church and the Baxter S.O.S.

Janie was a recipient of the 2014 Governor’s Award as 1 of the Top 5 EMTs in the State of Iowa; she was a past recipient of the Baxter Citizen Of The Year and Grand Marshall of Baxter Fun Days; she was to receive the 2016 Character Counts Award at the Baxter Fun Days this summer.

Janie loved her grandkids. She was also an avid Chicago Bears Fan and Iowa State sports fan; she loved fishing (and out fishing Smitty) in Canada; she had a passion for cars and driving fast.

Those left to cherish Janie’s memory are her husband of 40+ years, Stephen “Smitty” of Baxter; two sons, Jeremy (Misty) Smith of Baxter and Justin (Kari) Smith of Baxter; her four grandchildren, Cole, Melodie, Carter and Cooper; father, Gary Pyle of Baxter; her brothers, David (Bebe) Pyle of Baxter, Russ Pyle of Baxter and Scott (Charlene) Pyle of Madrid; her sister-in-law, Brenda Pyle of Baxter and many nieces and nephews.

Janie died on Saturday, May 7, 2016 surrounded by her family at the Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa; she was 62. She was preceded in death by her maternal and paternal grandparents and mother, Carol in 1991.

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