Janet Mackey

Janet Leah Woodyard Mackey was born March 16, 1960 in Humble, Texas to Harold Wilson Woodyard of Humble and Pauline Duckworth Woodyard of Black Rock, Arkansas. Janet was the second of three children. Her older brother, Richard, died during childbirth. Her sister Judy came along just a little over a year after Janet. The family lived on the Woodyard family farm in Humble, surrounded by many aunts, uncles, and cousins. This sparked a deep love of family and respect for tradition and family cooperation in Janet. She loved the company and activity of close extended family. She especially enjoy raucous games of 42 with her aunts and card games with her cousins, but also enjoyed the comfort of curling up on the front porch swing, wrapped in a blanket with a book as a gentle spring or summer rain fell. Janet graduated with honors from MacArthur High School in 1978 ranked 5th in her class. She received a B.S. from Houston Baptist University which she had attended on a full academic scholarship. She began teaching and proved a natural and gifted teacher. She was thrown into the fire as a young teacher in the first Texas alternative school for the Humble I.S.D. as they pioneered teaching students from multiple grade levels and class types in limited class space and for various lengths of time. Janet learned a great deal as did many of her colleagues, and she was especially suited for working with problem students because of her firm belief that all children deserved to learn and that all attempts should be made to connect with each and every student. Janet was always willing to look for the best in everyone. One of her colleagues at the Humble Alternative School was the counselor, Nancy Mackey. It was through her prompting that Janet risked writing Nancy's son, the Rev. Scott Mackey, then serving in Honey Grove, Texas. Their courtship began by letters. They were married a little over a year later on July 20, 1991. They shared a love of books, a tendency to use big words, a strong Christian faith, and a commitment to family and church. Janet was an excellent pastor's wife, especially for an introverted pastor husband. She was out-going, willing to talk to anyone and quick to befriend anyone. She was the one with a memory for names and phone numbers and birthdays and special anniversaries. Oh, and she could sing. Janet joined the church choir when she was just thirteen. She was "tricked" by a visiting revivalist into singing into what she thought was a dead microphone but which was instead piping her voice into other parts of the church at a night study session. Everyone came to hear who was singing and the church soon had a new soloist. Every congregation of which Janet has been a part has always loved to hear her sing. She was fond of the great traditional hymns of the church and of many contemporary Christian songwriters works. She jokingly referred to herself as a "professional" because the Honey Grove funeral home once paid her $10.00 to sing for funeral service! Janet's love of words (she was an exceptional SCRABBLE player!) led her to attempt writing. In dealing with her grief at the death of her mother, she began writing and finally produced a manuscript which she got published, Losing Mama. That emboldened her to try again, and she wrote a second book, This Latter House. Most of all, Janet loved family. With the help of the adoption agency formerly known as the Methodist Mission Home, the Mackey's welcomed a new addition to the their family on December 4, 2000. Reagan Jade Mackey was her adopted mother's pride and joy and the delight of her life. She thrilled to each of her daughter's new accomplishments and she enjoyed watching Reagan play the various sports which she loved and in which she so often excelled. She was an enthusiastic, if not always the most informed, of cheerleading fans. Despite occasional breaks to be pastor's wife or stay-at-home mom, Janet resumed teaching at East Texas Christian Academy. She took on the challenge of teaching enrichment classes in music, art, and Spanish and then resumed teaching her beloved English classes, though gladly keeping her hand in teaching Spanish which she found a delightful challenge. She loved the small school atmosphere and the opportunity to share her love of Christ and the Bible openly with students. She and Reagan embraced the challenge of mother teaching daughter and daughter having to have Mom for a teacher. Janet took energy from her students and delighted in talking and collaborating with her colleagues. She enjoyed being a mentor, friend, and partner to students and fellow teachers alike. Despite a valiant effort and two surgeries, Janet at last surrendered her earthly body to cancer on Memorial Day, Monday May 30. As a child of God, however, her spirit, unbowed, has gone to be with her Lord. Below is a tribute to Janet written by her daugher, written the day of her death: "Today has been a hard day. This is one of the last pics I had with my mom . . . she passed away earlier today. I know she is in a better place now and is watching over me and my family. She was and amazing and inspiring mom and woman to all people. She was an amazing Christian and strong in her faith and she always found the best in people and could always make me smile and i know I will see her again one day." Visitation will be at Rader Funeral Home, Friday June 3 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A graveside service will be held at Alpine Cemetary on Saturday morning at 10:00 a. m. followed by a reception at Alpine Presbyterian Church in Henderson Hall. A memorial service at Highland Presbyterian Church in Tyler, Texas is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. And additional memorial service is tentatively sceduled in Humble for Saturday, June 18th at a time and place to be determined.

Janet Mackey

March 16, 1960 - May 30, 2016