Obituary: Janie Gerbaz

July 23, 1924 – May 25, 2021

Janie Lowe Gerbaz died at home on May 25, 2021 in Sugar Land, Texas. She first came to the Roaring Fork Valley in 1945 on her honeymoon. The relatives of her husband, Del Gerbaz, saved their gas ration coupons so the couple could drive to Gerbazdale from Fort Worth, Texas. Janie was a permanent resident of the Valley from 1971 to 2016 and lived in Gerbazdale, Carbondale, and Glenwood Springs.

Janie was born in Fort Worth on July 23, 1924 to Thomas Walter Lowe and Roxie Ada Smith. She was the ninth of eleven children, all of whom predeceased her except her sister, Dolores Hand, of Pantego, Texas. Janie graduated from Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth and met her husband while working at Consolidated Aircraft in Fort Worth.

Janie was dedicated to her family, which includes Larry Gerbaz (Molly) of Carbondale, Janice Gilbert (Barry) of Sugar Land, Texas, and Maria Callier of Arlington, Virginia. She leaves seven grandchildren, six great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Janie was married to Del Gerbaz for almost 60 years when he passed away in 2005.

Through her long life, Janie was a fine storyteller and had a remarkable memory. She had great vitality; encouraged those around her; and lived the Christian faith. She was a popular babysitter in Aspen and treated those children as her own. A person of great patience, at the Texas School for the Blind in Austin, Texas she helped care for deaf and blind children whose mothers contracted rubella while pregnant.

She was kind, gracious, curious, and grateful.

Graveside services were conducted by Rev. Eddie Piker on June 11, 2021 at Red Butte Cemetery in Aspen. She was interred next to her husband.

Memorial contributions can be made to your favorite charity or to Feed My Sheep, a ministry for the homeless, P.O. Box 1033, Glenwood Springs, Colorado 81602.