Janice Datwyler

Janice Allred Datwyler – more commonly known as Jan and often Grandma Jan – passed away peacefully on March 21 at 88 years old, surrounded by loving family members.

Grandma Jan was spunky and full of energy right up to her last few days on this earth. She was also kind, loving and serving, and always showed up for her loved ones in need.

Jan was born to parents R. Bliss and Alta Allred in Provo, Utah, on May 15, 1936. She was
raised in the same city and grew up with her two older siblings Rey and Loye.

She spent her early years running through her family’s orchard, playing with toy cars in a ditch with her friends and riding a sleigh pulled by her older brother on a horse. She loved riding horses and came to be quite the proficient tractor driver as she worked on the family farm, thinning apples and picking cherries.

As a child, Jan would often take the well-worn path between her family’s white house and her grandparents’ little rock house, one of her favorite places which her family later moved into.

Jan attended Brigham Young High School and graduated in 1954, and just a couple years ago, she put extensive time and effort into organizing her class reunion. Throughout her teenage years she would take trips up to Midway with her friends to go swimming.

She attended Utah State University, where she earned a degree in elementary education. Jan joined the Chi Omega sorority and loved singing around the piano with her sorority sisters.

One day while at USU, she was spotted by Boyd Datwyler as she walked by his fraternity
house, and he knew that he just had to meet her. The two soon fell in love and were married in the Logan Temple on December 20, 1957.

After the two of them graduated from USU, they moved back to Jan’s hometown of Provo where they raised their children. Boyd and Jan had six kids together, losing their oldest daughter Terri just 12 hours after her birth.

Throughout her life, Grandma Jan was an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She spent multiple years serving as an activity days leader with her good friend Barbara; the two were incredible leaders, bringing tons of fun as well as teaching the girls real life skills.

One of Jan’s favorite things was working at the Provo Temple, which she did regularly for years.

Her children’s childhoods were full of weekends skiing at Snowbird and summer Lake Powell trips with family friends. All of the kids learned to waterski, a pastime which Jan herself enjoyed, but she always did it while wearing a swim cap to cover her hair.

Jan’s four daughters remember school shopping trips to Salt Lake City and cream tuna on toast after skiing, as well as endless support, encouragement and advice. Into her daughters, she instilled a love of gardening. They now all have yards full of colorful plants and flowers.

One of Grandma Jan’s favorite activities was her angel club, where she got together regularly with some of her closest friends to sew and chat. She and Boyd also often got together with friends to play card games; her particular favorite was Five Crowns. A Provo native, Jan loved attending and watching BYU basketball and football games.

Jan also loved to travel, visiting places such as Israel and Germany. But, no matter where she and Boyd went, she always said that her favorite place was home.

She was known to never pass up an opportunity to babysit her grandchildren – and even
great-grandchildren – giving each and every one of them never-ending love and support.

Her grandchildren often slept over at her house and have fond childhood memories of waking up to freshly cooked ebelskivers or heart-shaped waffles.. Thanks to Grandma Jan, they grew up going on big family Disneyland trips, where they would eat lots of churros and ride Tower of Terror and Big Thunder Mountain as a group.

Jan was always doing what she could to serve others, and her favorite way to serve was with food. Food was her favorite way to show love, and no one ever visited her home without leaving well fed, even if it was the middle of the afternoon. She often gave bags and boxes of apples from her family’s Allred Orchards to her family members and other loved ones.

Whether it was riding a rollercoaster with her grandkids, preparing a meal for a friend, or offering advice to her children, Grandma Jan always showed up. She showed up for her family members, for her friends and for her community..

Grandma Jan is survived by her husband Boyd, her four daughters, Carey Morley, Sue (Nate) Jones, Heidi (Kent) Carlson and Shauni (Jeremy) Keith, her 19 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, her two siblings Rey and Loye, her infant daughter Terri, son Craig (Wyn), and son-in-law Brad Morley.

There will be a viewing on Thursday, March 27th from 6-8 p.m. at the LDS chapel at 3050
Mojave Lane. An additional viewing at the same place will be held on Friday March 28th from 12:30-1:30 pm with the funeral shortly after at 2 pm.