Janet Hinderer

Janet Hinderer liked making lists and plans. Grocery lists, craft material lists, and weekly schedules, she brought order and structure to all of her projects. Raising a daughter and two sons first in Williston, North Dakota, and later here in Durango, things were not always easy. But Janet was pragmatic and organized. If it took dumpster-diving in North City Market to collect coupons, organizing and saving them for double-coupon days, then she added it to the schedule. She and her husband Daryl stitched together a home where their children could grow and thrive in a family where their love was never in doubt. She organized the family business and was the office from the beginning, teaching herself bookkeeping, invoicing, and running the payroll. As her family prospered, she brought that discipline and order into other areas. With camping trips, whether crawdad feeds with friends at Ridgway Reservoir or boating around Lake Powell, she meticulously planned and made sure nothing was ever forgotten. She was into the details. Janet applied herself fully to everything. She decided to get into better shape, and so she exercised very faithfully five days a week, rarely missing a day. She proved that if you workout on an elliptical machine long enough, you’ll eventually be exercising next to Oprah. And when she and her husband organized the coffee at their church, it was task lists, volunteer schedules, alternates, materials organized, and good coffee. With all of this discipline and order, you’d expect someone stern and cold, but Janet was the opposite of that. She was warm, compassionate, and expressed pure sweetness and joy to all around her. She would apologize to every worm she baited before casting it into the water in search of walleye. She loved to sing, beginning with her brothers when they as children toured churches in the Pacific Northwest singing gospel songs such as “He the Pearly Gates Will Open” and “Ain’t Got Time” to the congregations in tight family harmonies. Her faith was strong, and many of her lifelong friendships were founded within the church. God was a comfort and solace to her during her battle with cancer in the last years. And as her time drew to an end, she planned one last trip. Fully researched, with all the information carefully laid out in a spreadsheet. She saw her grown children, held and hugged her four grandchildren, and one last time was able to experience the love and joy of that which was her greatest project.