Janet Kathleen Rawley

Janet Kathleen Rawley, 84, departed this life on Oct. 19, 2022, at her home in Iowa City. Memorial services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, at Trinity Episcopal Church in Iowa City. The service will be livestreamed at www.trinityic.org.  Her earthly remains have been donated to the Deeded Body Program in the University of Iowa College of Medicine.

Janet was born on Jan. 9, 1938, in Rockford, Iowa, to Henry and Anna (Adolphs) Marth, the youngest child of nine. She attended country school near the family farm in Ulster Township, Floyd County, for a few years before attending the town school in Rockford. The family later moved from the farm to Charles City where Janet graduated from Charles City High School in 1956. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from the University of Iowa in 1960.

In 1960 Janet was married to Robert T. Fluent from Charles City and they moved to Cedar Rapids where Janet taught elementary school music in the Linn-Mar Community School District. While residing in Cedar Rapids, Janet gave birth to her son, Robert “Robb” T. Fluent, Jr. in 1964.

Following a divorce in 1967, Janet and Robb moved to Iowa City where she began a long career as an elementary school music teacher at the Robert Lucas Elementary School, retiring after 30 years in 1997.

Her home on Kirkwood Court was only one house from Wayne Rawley’s, where he and his three children lived. A romance bloomed and in November of 1976, Janet and Wayne were married at Trinity Episcopal Church and would have celebrated 46 years of marriage this November.

Janet’s life centered on her family and the world of music. She was a great host, keeping an open and welcoming home for many family and friends’ gatherings over the years, including her last family reunion this past summer. She was a wonderful cook and an exceptional gardener. After her retirement, Janet became “Mimi” to her four granddaughters and grandson, spending as much time with them as possible. And as three of the granddaughters lived in Cedar Rapids, she was able to do years of important childcare, an activity she dearly loved. And again as those same three were volleyball athletes, she and Wayne visited many a high school gym as well as venues around the Midwest to watch and support the girls. In the last eleven years of her life she was a devoted caretaker and a constant companion of two Great Danes, Bella and Nay Nay.

Musically, Janet had a beautiful soprano voice and worked with a vocal coach until her passing. She was a skilled pianist, having begun piano lessons in the second grade, sang her first solo in fourth grade, and played piano for her church services while in junior high. In her college years she performed in UI operas and early in her teaching career, performed in musicals with Theater Cedar Rapids. She was a member of the Iowa City Community Band and played first chair horn in the Iowa City New Horizons Band for many years and was an early and long-time member of the Iowa City Chamber Singers.

Janet was a faithful member of Trinity Episcopal for some 55 years, grateful for the support she received there. For much of that time she sang with the Church Choir. And following her retirement she served for a number of years as the coordinator/scheduler for the Trinity Team that provided a meal a month for the Free Lunch Program.

Janet was a bright, loving woman with a positive personality who found joy in every day. She was a wonderful helpmate and a never-ending support to her family and her many friends. She was an excellent, patient and very caring teacher, remembered fondly by numerous students over the years. Janet will be sorely missed by those left behind: her loving husband, Wayne; son Robert (Lisa) Fluent, Jr.; stepchildren: Wayne (Sara) Rawley IV, Susan Rawley and Steven Rawley; grandchildren: Anna, Claire and Mara Fluent and step-grandchildren Emiliana and Steven Rawley.  She also leaves behind many nieces and nephews in the North Iowa area. She was preceded in death by her parents, eight siblings and their spouses, Melvin (June) Marth, Dorothy (Ben) Kruse, Ruth (Raymond) Koehler, Luella (Wilbert) Brandau, Lloyd (Velda) Marth, Lester (Doris) Marth, Harold (Patty) Marth and Richard (Nancy) Marth and some of her many nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Trinity Episcopal Church Music Fund at 320 East College Street, Iowa City, IA, 52240 and online condolences may be shared at www.lensingfuneral.com.