Jana Lou Strotz

Beloved: Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Great-Grandmother, Sister, Daughter and Friend. Jana Lou Strotz, 75, of Bremerton, WA, went home to be with Jesus on June 11th 2018. She lived at Stafford Belmont, Bremerton, WA.

She was born August 24, 1942 in Blackwell, OK, to Alvin Charles and Laura Evelyn (Dirham) Steele. She is preceded in death by her parents, two brothers, Verle Steele, and Berwin Steele, and a sister Charlene Warren. She married William E. Strotz SR on Oct. 28th 1961 in Carson City, Nevada.

She is survived by her husband William E Strotz Sr, her sister, Sue Wagher (Robert); nine children; Michelle Cooper; Lorrie Jones (Dale); William E. Strotz Jr; Christopher Strotz; Lorijo Pada,(Orvic); Angela Strotz.; Stacy Pleger, (Daniel,; Trisha Yale (Jerry); and Michael Strotz; She was blessed with 20 Grandchildren and 7 Great-Grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

She loved the Lord, and loved sharing Jesus with everyone. Jesus was her best friend. He made her sparkle the most. She wanted to be like Him. She wanted her family and friends to know Him like she did. Even when she couldn't get around much anymore, she prayed. She prayed for her family, her friends, for strangers and anyone who was in need. Her biggest ministry was interceding through prayer for others. Prayer kept her incredibly close to her Lord and Savior. She knew Jesus Christ in a deeply personal way and leaned on Him to get through many trials in life. She told us man will always disappoint you, but God never will, writing Proverbs 3:5-6 in the Bibles she gave us. She was a huge influence in many lives, with love and spiritual guidance. Her home was always warm and inviting.
Mom loved big, with her whole heart.

She loved being a mom both to her own kids, foster kids, and anyone else who needed some extra nurturing. She was a great cook and leaves behind many traditions in the kitchen including biscuits and gravy and homemade noodles at holiday times. She had nearly every kitchen gadget ever invented. She loved to decorate and craft, with one of the prettiest rooms in the house being her bathroom. She had the gift of creativity that came out in many ways. She loved to make beautiful things. Whether it was cakes, sewing clothes, crafts, cooking, tea parties or redesigning a home, she always made life more beautiful in so many ways. Mom always listened and gave good godly advice when needed, and knew that we could always come to her with any problem no matter how big or small.

Her little notes that she hung on the fridge were always something treasured. I still use them with my kids, things like “when you don’t feel like loving someone, do a loving thing” and “friends are like diamonds precious but rare, false friends like autumn leaves found everywhere”. There were many more. Mom volunteered with the PTA, Campfire Girls, Sunday School, and even the music director for a kids musical at our church.

She blessed her family with the most amazing thanksgiving meals and always made room at our table for others. We will remember her making chutney, and homemade noodles, always a family favorite. She made our Christmases special and memorable. Her support of our hobbies and of our gifts of music and other activities was paramount. Mom was always looking for her niche and she found it, decorating cakes and was great at it, until she was no longer able to continue doing it. She taught us to love others unconditionally. She spent her life loving children and those less fortunate. She did her best to provide a good home for her family.

She was a woman whose love was endless and always enduring. She was generous and always willing to lend a helping hand or listening ear. Her kindness touched everyone around her and especially her children. She always wanted us to be smart, taking us on adventures to learn all about the world and its cultures. We will always treasure the memories of being with her and listening to the stories she told. We will be forever thankful she was our momma. We are blessed and grateful to call her our mom and to be loved by her. We look forward with joy to seeing her again, happy, healthy, and whole when we join her in heaven someday.

In lieu of flowers, friends and loved ones are invited to post memories to this website and make a contribution in her honor to a non-profit of your choice to support children in need.