Janet entered Heaven’s joys on March 20, 2026 at 1:44 a.m.
Janet LaVerne (Scoles) Albertson was born August 24, 1961 to Rev. Rex and Wanda (Smith) Scoles. She joined siblings Brenda and Lyndell. Rev. Scoles was pastoring in Nevada, Missouri at the time. Before leaving that pastorate, two more sisters were born: Sherry and Marlene. The family moved to Gastonia, North Carolina in 1966, and in 1967, Wesley completed the family.
Though there was no kindergarten offered, Janet attended first grade in Gastonia. As a small child, she was “Dutchie,” and only family understood her words. She had speech therapy in first grade, but the real breakthrough was during a three-day move back to Missouri, when her aunt Carolyn worked with her on speaking clearly.
Second grade was in Fulton, Missouri, when Janet’s daddy learned heating and air conditioning skills from Grandpa Smith, held revival meetings, and filled-in for pastors on vacation.
When Janet was eight, the family moved to Joplin, Missouri, where her dad and mother continued to pastor for over 50 years. Janet always thanked God for the family He placed her in. Though they were never rich, God supplied every need and there was always enough love to go around.Together they prayed, worked, played, and ministered. Janet gave her heart to Jesus at the age of 13 and always desired to live for Him.
Janet graduated from Memorial High School as a first honor student (all A’s) and received a full scholarship to Missouri Southern State College, where she received an Associate of Science in Nursing degree and passed her state boards to become a registered nurse. She moved to Overland Park, Kansas and continued her education at Kansas City College and Bible School for two years while working evenings at Shawnee Mission Medical Center as a Med-Surg nurse.
While in Overland Park, Janet met the love of her life, Rowen Albertson. Rowen’s sister, Becky Profitt, was the dorm mom, and because she loved and knew Janet well, when Rowen asked Becky to pick out a wife for him, she picked Janet. It was a whirlwind of letters, phone calls, and five in-person visits, and they were married October 22, 1983. Janet always said Becky was her favorite sister-in-law because of choosing her for her youngest brother.
Rowen and Janet made their home in Loveland, Colorado for six years. For two years, Janet worked for Larimer County Hospice as the Loveland Coordinator of Nursing. She enjoyed the in-home nursing visits and supplying the care and equipment the patients needed. She co-taught the youngest Sunday School class at church.
Their family expanded when Randall was born, then Timothy. Janet was happy to exchange her nursing career for her mothering career, which lasted the rest of her life. Rowen and Janet had agreed that they would live on one income so she could be a stay-at-home mother and homeschool their children. They had also agreed that they wanted to have all the children God wanted them to have.
In 1989, they moved to a larger home in the small town of Johnstown, Colorado. In 1990, Janet began a homeschooling journey that lasted until May 2016! She became friends with other moms at the library story time and started the Johnstown-Milliken Homeschoolers organization that she led until she was done homeschooling. She organized homeschoolers for PE, field trips, game days, classes, and highway cleanup between the two towns, and personally advised many new homeschool moms.
In Johnstown, the family grew to include Jeffrey, Elizabeth, Jason, and Emily. Every child was warmly welcomed, and the family love grew and grew. Janet enjoyed sewing dresses for her girls. She made up tunes to teach the children Bible verses, and read the Bible and many missionary books aloud as part of devotions in home school. One son recently said that when he reads, Mother’s voice is the narrator in his head.
Missionaries were very important to Janet. She regularly wrote missionaries and hosted them for meals and overnight stays. The children were taught that missionaries are our heroes.
Janet would also read aloud on family roadtrips. There was also much singing in the van. The Albertson family tried to have a picnic in the mountains once a week in the summer, and every birthday was celebrated by inviting a family over for a meal and games. Rowen and Janet always loved to have guests at their Sunday dinner table. Family walks and playing at the park were common.
Janet first became mother-in-law in 2006 and became a Grandma in 2007.
In 2011, Janet began her cancer journey with breast cancer surgery, six IV chemotherapy treatments, and five years of follow-up anti-estrogen therapy. Her hair grew back, she regained her strength, and she only had Emily to finish homeschooling.
Rowen and Janet started making trips to Cincinnati to visit their children who were attending God’s Bible School and College (GBSC). For several years, Randy and Joy lived in Colorado and Rowen and Janet enjoyed having several of the grandchildren nearby. Other years, Janet recorded Grandma CDs for the grandchildren, with stories from their daddies’ young lives and with Bible verses, prayers, stories from her early life, and other character stories. These helped her stay connected when the grandchildren lived far away.
Janet started developing her quilting talents during these years. She made quilts for all her children and the grandchildren as they came along, and, for special friends, wedding quilts. Being a long time volunteer for the Johnstown Historical Society and especially JHS’s annual quilt show made her very interested and invested in making quilts.
When Emily graduated from home school in 2016, God led Rowen and Janet to move to Kentucky to be nearer to their daughters during their college careers at GBSC. The family has been so thankful for a wonderful church family here at Burlington Bible Church. During her Kentucky years, Janet got to fulfill her life goal of “adopting” Bible school students and having many of them as Sunday guests. She was dedicated to having the church folk over for meals also. As long as her health permitted, she enjoyed being a substitute Sunday School teacher.
All of 2017 and 2018, Janet gave companion care to a dear older lady she had known since childhood. In January 2019, she started working for God’s Bible School and College as assistant cook. She then transferred to Donor Records and also served as morning phone receptionist, where she enjoyed getting to know the students as they came through the Admin Building doors.
In 2021, Janet found out her breast cancer had metastasized to her bones. She was told that it was Stage 4, incurable, and she had 4-6 years to live, even with treatment to try to slow it down. She was blessed to be put in a drug study, and it did slow the cancer for a while. But on October 12, 2023, she fell down the stairs at work because her left femur broke from a cancer lesion. After getting a rod inserted the length of her femur, she faced non-weight bearing restrictions for several long months. Her time working on the GBS campus came to a close. However, GBS stood by her and created an editorial assistant job she could do from home for the God’s Revivalist magazine. She continued to try other drug regimens, some which seemed to work for a while, and others that did not work or even damaged her lungs. After she regained the ability to walk again, she made many, many more quilts.
Janet always wanted to bring honor to her Savior, even through her cancer. She was determined to be transparent and honest about what she was going through, while giving God glory for being all-wise and trustworthy. She surrendered to whatever He knew was best. She spoke of cancer as a gift, because it helped her be intentional in her choices and actions, and made her face her mortality. She was intentional and faithful in her friendships, her walk with God, Bible reading, and prayer. Her family knew her as a prayer warrior throughout life.
Janet entered Heaven’s joys on March 20, 2026 at 1:44 am, surrounded by her husband and several of her children, who are so grateful for her life, and grateful that she is with the Lord and free from all pain and suffering.
Janet is survived by her loving husband, Rowen; precious and well-loved children: Randy (Joy), Tim (Brenda), Jeffrey (Lesa), Elizabeth, Jason (Karen), and Emily; ten precious grandchildren: James, Micah, Jonathan, Jewelyn, Mishael, Mandylyn, Josiah, Charissa, Felix, and Piper. Her father, Rex Scoles survives, as well as all her siblings, many cousins, nieces and nephews, three aunts, and two uncles.
