In Memory

Janet Wait (Nylund)

Janet Wait (Nylund)

NYLUND, Janet Lynn Wait Loving mother, wife, sister, aunt, friend, and community leader was called home by our Lord. Family and friends will miss her ever-present smile and gracious personality. Janet was born the middle child of three to Dr. Edwin and Arlene Wait of Streator, Illinois. During her childhood, Janet and her family enjoyed excursions to Chicago and summers at their lake cabin. Janet attended Iowa State University and double majored in Home Economics and Journalism, and was also a devout member of the Chi Omega Sorority where she met and kept many lifelong friends. After college she moved to California where she received a Master's Degree in Journalism from San Francisco State University and was a professor. While in San Francisco, she was courted by a young doctor who would become her future husband, Jack Nylund. They enjoyed new love by traveling up and down the Pacific Coast and sailing their sleeper sailboat throughout the San Francisco Bay. Janet and her husband moved to Dallas in the late 1970s where she taught journalism at the University of North Texas and began a family. Janet was a devoted and loving mother who raised her two sons, Justin and Jon Charles, with care, involvement, and sacrifice. Janet had a lifelong appreciation for the arts and was a staple volunteer and patron for the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Dallas Summer Musicals. She served many organizations tirelessly and was one of Dallas' most active civic leaders. She was a Board member for eight years for The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society and served as Co-Chair for their St. Valentine's Day Luncheon. Additionally, Janet served through many positions with the following agencies and organizations: an A.W.A.R.E. board member and co-chair of the annual luncheon benefiting the Alzheimer's Association ; a board member and Past Chairwoman for Parties of Note for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra League; a member of the Chi Omega Alumni Group; a Family Place board member and President of Family Place Partner's; an Auxiliary & Trailblazer's Luncheon Chairman; a Kidney Texas board member and Luncheon Chairman; a Chairman of the Women's Council of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. She also worked closely with the Nexus Recovery Center, the Equest Annual Fashion Show, and served as Director of the Dallas County Heritage. She was a longtime member and volunteer of the Junior League of Dallas. She was also a member of the Dallas Theater Center, Dallas County Heritage Society, Dallas County Medical Society Alliance and Foundation, The Episcopal School of Dallas Parent Teacher Association and proud owner of Janet Wait Designs. Her commitment to her family and her community has always been to make a difference and to excel in everything she did. Janet was a gracious host and opened her home up several times a year to her various charitable endeavors and celebrated Valentine's Day with her annual all ladies' tea. After retirement, Janet and her husband travelled around the world several times over and her radiant smile helped them make new friends on every new soil stepped on. Whether it was a cruise down the Danube, enjoying the Great Wall of China or seeing the pyramids of Egypt they felt at home with the love of each other. Nothing made Janet happier than spending time with her family. Over the last several years, she spent time in Dallas and Taos spending wonderful and precious time with both of her sons. Janet will be remembered for her kind, compassionate, and elegant demeanor. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Jack Louis Nylund and her parents Dr. & Mrs. Edwin Wait and is survived by her 2 sons, Dr. Justin Nylund and his wife Patricia of Taos and Jon Charles Nylund of Dallas, her brother Dr. Chuck Wait and his wife Carolyn, and her sister Mrs. Julie Fryauf and her husband Mark, 9 nieces and nephews, many cousins, in-laws and countless close friends. Janet's memorial service will be held 10:00 a.m. Friday April 8th at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Janet's beloved charities: Alzheimer's Association, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

 



 
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05/05/16 10:32 AM #1    

Cathe Mehall (Rumery)

So, so sorry to hear of Janet's passing.  I feel badly for her and her family.
 


05/05/16 02:00 PM #2    

Patricia Dordan (Gilley)

What a shock to me.  While we had not kept up with one another's lives since our graduation 50 years ago, I have only lovely, positive memories of Janet.  We "double-dated" for our junior prom and we shall always stand together in my photo album....so very joyful....in our first formals....with two handsome young men at our sides....I choose to keep that as my lasting memory of our dear classmate.   Pat Dordan Gilley


05/06/16 08:45 AM #3    

Tom Harless

Did not know Janet well but remember her as having a quiet elegance and grace that most teens did not possess.


05/06/16 09:05 AM #4    

Susan Harley (Rees)

Janet was beautiful inside and out. She certainly used her talents well, contributing so much to her family, friends and community. 


05/06/16 10:01 AM #5    

Steve Suderman

I still have fillings Dr Wait put in my molars.  He always said "This won't hurt"--he was lying but I loved him for it.  Got to enjoy the Wait's cabin on Lake Delavan...brother Chuck even taught me a little about sailing.  Janet was a "backyard neighbor" so I remember her as a kid as well as a classmate...sweet disposition and a classy lady.


05/06/16 12:27 PM #6    

Craig Barnhart

Will always remember Janet for her thoughtfulness towards others.  Always smiling and cared deeply for her friends.  While we never stayed close following graduation, she will always remain in my fondest of memories.


05/06/16 03:07 PM #7    

Jill Klein (Allen)

I did not know Janet lived in Dallas.  What an accomplished woman!  So young to leave her sons and grandchildren.   If you search her name, an obit will be a choice in one of the Dallas papers with a lovely photo of her.  I didn't know her well, but walked home from high school occassionally with her.

 

 


05/06/16 05:58 PM #8    

Phyllis (Pj) Jordon (Trzeciak)

I have the same sentiments as Tom Harless........who put it so beautifully........she did have a quiet elegance and grace about her.   She was a lovely young lady!  


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