Obituary: Janette Dillon

Janette was an avid gardener, enjoyed helping out with the animals on their small farm and loved helping her children in their extracurricular activities. She was always there to lend a hand with Vickie and Darin 4-H groups and projects, and was a member of the Parkdale Skating Specialists club. She also looked forward to the monthly coffee group with many of her Parkdale friends. A loving tradition that she shared with her family was the ability to play cards and board games. She was known as the “quiet missile.”

Janette lived and breathed the Parkdale community. Serving as the Parkdale librarian for 31 years, her time spent was a true passion where she connected with community members each week and helped foster the love of books in both children and adults. She tirelessly brought opportunities to the Parkdale community from organizing the Blossom Festival at the community center, to cleaning up the Parkdale area, coordinating the Spook House, and involving local businesses in activities and events. She was an active Lioness member, and part of the Parkdale Grange. A continuation of her gifted love for her community is the Parkdale Pumpkin Parade, which is celebrated yearly.

In the early 1980s, Janette bought Edna’s cafe, and with the help of her dear friend Pat Nielsen, the women turned the restaurant into the “Country Hearth,” currently known as Apple Valley BBQ in Parkdale. They had decided to create a warm and welcoming space for early coffee groups, and a loving space for her community to share a meal and her famous doughnuts!

She and Don later divorced in 1991. In the mid 1990s Janette started going with Leo “Johnny” Dillon. As a Parkdale community member himself, Leo worked at the Forest Service with Janette’s dad Frank. Janette and Leo shared a love of music by being active members of the Dalles Eagles club and took dancing lessons. You’d find them most Saturdays at the club, dancing the two-step together or country swing. They married in 1998 and started their life of adventure. The couple wintered yearly in Yuma, Ariz., for many years in their motor home, forming a new community they loved dearly and kept in constant contact with. When the couple was home during the summer, Janette’s passions involved painting, gardening, home renovations, and genealogy. The couple traveled all over the United States, visiting relatives and exploring back roads and finding many different settings to later paint. She loved to solve puzzles and one of the greatest puzzles she sought out was her genealogy. Using her time on the road to seek out family, and piece together the long-lost puzzles of her close and distant family, kept her busy.

Her fascination with genealogy gave her and Leo the opportunities to travel far and wide to help connect all of the family trees she’d identified. After Leo passed away in 2017, Janette stayed busy with painting and her garden. There was nothing she enjoyed more than looking up at Mount Hood from her garden. Later, she spent time walking to visit neighbors with her cute little dog Peppy, and still loving all of her flowers. In her last years, she loved spending time at the Parkdale Nazarene church, and she enjoyed her community at Brookside Manor and Providence Sunshine Club where her love of music and dancing continued. No matter where she went, she was known for her sense of humor, her kindness to others, and her lovely smile.

She is survived by her daughter Vickie Schmidt (husband Rick Schmidt), son Darin Hoff (partner Debbie Rice), grandchildren Michael Hoff, Mackenzie Allen (husband James Allen and son Lucas Allen), Andy Schmidt, and Catelin Mcarthy (partner Luis Barrera, son Luca), and extended family, Anita Dillon, and numerous nieces and nephews.

Her love of board games and cards is something that has been passed down to each family member and she will be known as one of the original card sharks.

In lieu of flowers or wanting to give a memorial contribution, please consider giving to the Parkdale Fire Department, Providence Foundation Sunshine Club, or Hospice of the Gorge. Janette will best be remembered for kindness, generosity, and love of her community and family.

Services are planned for 3 p.m., Saturday, July 19 at Anderson's Tribute Center with a celebration of life gathering to follow at Saw Tooth Roadhouse, 4780 OR-35, Hood River; food and music will be provided. Visit www.AndersonsTributeCenter.com to leave a note of condolence for the family.