Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and sister, Janis Ann Strange Draper Clark, 72, of Rexburg, died July 21, 2017, in a traffic accident.

Janis was born February 3, 1945, in St. Anthony, the third of four children of Edwin Green and Emaline Louise Atchley Strange. She attended elementary schools in St. Anthony, graduating from South Fremont High School in 1963.

Janis graduated from Ricks College and Brigham Young University, with a degree in Home Economics Education. She taught Home Economics at North Davis Junior High in Clearfield, Utah. During this time, she met her future husband, David James Draper. They were married in the Idaho Falls Temple on June 6, 1969. They lived in Farmington, and she continued to teach while he completed his degree in Manufacturing Engineering at Weber State College.

After David got a job in the automotive industry, they moved to Indiana and then Michigan. The couple had seven children, and Janis was committed to raising her children well. She was an active advocate for their educations, substitute teaching in Michigan School districts when her youngest started school, and even running for the school board. Her children did well in school, and they have always been the light of her life.

David worked in the automotive industry until his death in 1999. Janis decided to stay in Michigan until her youngest child, Tom, graduated high school. However, she planned to return to Eastern Idaho to be closer to her two older daughters and her aging parents. In the spring of 2001, she sold her Michigan home, bought a home in Rexburg, and moved to Idaho. Having lived far away from her parents for so long, she was now their closest child, and she was committed to helping them out—checking on her dad several times a week, bringing him groceries and homemade meals, taking him to doctor's appointments, and frequently driving him from St. Anthony to the Ashton Living Center where her mother resided.

After getting settled in Rexburg, Janis decided to further her education. She took Idaho State University evening classes in Idaho Falls, and received a Master's Degree in the spring of 2004. She then worked as a student teacher supervisor at Brigham Young University-Idaho for some six years.

Janis was talented in all areas of homemaking. Her cooking was legendary, and she was an accomplished seamstress. Even in high school, she made clothes for her mother, her two sisters, and herself. For some years, she sewed pajamas as Christmas presents for her growing tribe of grandchildren. Two years ago, when she began experiencing carpal tunnel issues with her hands and diabetes-related vision problems, she sewed pillowcases instead because they were easier. Last Christmas, in each pillowcase gift, she reluctantly enclosed a note saying that sewing was now too hard for her, so this would be her last year of making them.

A devoted member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Janis had a deep and abiding faith in God and served Him in multiple callings, including early morning seminary teacher for 10 years and ward Relief Society counselor and president. More recently, she was a Family History consultant. She was a faithful visiting teacher.

Janis served as a temple ordinance worker in the Rexburg Temple after it opened. Here, she met Stanley Miller Clark, and they were married May 5, 2009. They spent eight wonderful years together. Both their spouses had died, and both were committed to their first spouses. But when they decided to build a life together, they agreed to love each other, have a good time together, and take care of each other. And each kept their part of the bargain. Janis applied her homemaking skills to caring for Stan, and he took care of her. He became a beloved second father to her daughters and a loving grandfather to her grandchildren.

Janis was preceded in death by her parents, Ed and Emaline Strange; her brother, Jay Strange; her first husband, David Draper; a son, Robert Draper; and two granddaughters, Bethany Draper and Sofie Mann.

She is survived by her husband, Stan Clark; two sisters, Jean Hawkins and Judy (Wayne) Clayton; her sister-in-law, Sande Strange; her children: Lauri (David) Mann, Steven (Janet) Draper, Geoffrey (Maria) Draper, Lisa (Ryan) Snelgrove, Benjamin (Elizabeth) Draper, and Tom (Meredith) Draper; and her daughter-in-law, Tanya (Robert Draper) Trafalet. She is also survived by 33 grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, July 29th at 9:30 AM at the Park Street Chapel at 700 Park Street in Rexburg. The family will receive friends Friday, July 28th from 5:30-7:00 PM at Flamm Funeral Home in Rexburg, and Saturday, from 8:30 to 9:15 AM prior to the funeral services at the Park Street Chapel. Interment will be at the Hooper, Utah Cemetery.