Obituary of Janet W. Bjorness

Janet W. Bjorness, of Succasunna, NJ, died Monday, August 19 at Morristown Medical Center at the age of 88.

Janet was born in Queens, NY on November 25, 1935, the only child of Charlie and Vera Wernig.  She was a graduate of Andrew Jackson High School in Queens and was a member of the Arista Society.  Upon graduation, she accepted a secretarial position with Schenley Industries in Manhattan and worked on the 64^th floor of the Empire State Building for a number of years. 

In 1962, Janet married Ray Bjorness, and they moved to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, where Susan, their only child was born.  In the late 1960s, they bravely ventured into the wilds of New Jersey and settled in Pompton Plains, where they lived happily for over thirty years.  Throughout her career, Janet enjoyed working as an administrative assistant at companies, including Snelling & Snelling and Channel.  Upon retirement, Janet and Ray moved to Toms River, which was fitting because the story of how they met down the shore had become family legend.  Ray passed away in 2012, and in 2017, Janet moved to Succasunna to be closer to her family.

In addition to devoting time and energy to her career, Janet was an excellent cook and baker, a talented seamstress, an avid gardener, and a Girl Scout leader.  She and Ray also ran their own business in Toms River; they managed the community newspapers for six senior living communities, and Janet’s role was in layout and design.  She jumped wholeheartedly into learning graphic design and was frequently in demand in her own community for a variety of creative projects. Janet also loved to use her graphic design skills to make personalized gift tags, return address labels, and signs for her family.

Janet’s greatest pride and joy, though, were her two granddaughters. Her granddaughters treasured their traditions of playing card games and going Black Friday shopping with Janet, and there was always lots of laughter when they were together. She was very proud of all their accomplishments, and nothing made her happier than spending time with them.

She is survived by her daughter, Susan Robinson, son-in-law Mark Robinson, granddaughter Stephanie Robinson, granddaughter Jessica Kaplan, grandson-in-law David Kaplan, and several cousins. 

Visitation will be Saturday, August 24 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am and a Funeral Service will be from 11:30 am to 12 pm at Tuttle Funeral Home, 272 Route 10, Randolph NJ.

Interment will be at the BG William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Arneytown, NJ at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Army Emergency Relief Fund in Arlington, VA (https://www.armyemergencyrelief.org/) or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Morris Plains, NJ (https://www.stpaulsmp.org/).