Janet Elaine Boyer

Janet Elaine (Stovall) Anderson Boyer was born at Salem General Hospital June 26, 1948.

She was raised and went to school in Lebanon, OR and continued on to the Oregon College of Education (now Western Oregon University) in Monmouth for a degree in Elementary Education.

She got her first and only teaching job in Jefferson, OR in 1972. She taught third and fourth grades, with her favorite being the years she looped, having a class of third graders that she followed up to fourth, teaching the same group of students for two years. While teaching, she ran a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald house, collecting thousands of pounds of pull tabs from aluminum cans for recycling; she continued this endeavor to her final day.

She was many students’ favorite teacher and stayed close to some for decades after leaving her class, delighting in seeing them grow into excellent adults. (By the way, did she ever mention that she only became a teacher because her mother insisted on it, and that she hated teaching the entire 30 years she taught?) She often sparred with the administration, and frequently recounted stories ending with “by the grace of God, I didn’t get fired.” In fact, she received several teaching awards, and in 2002 retired from the Jefferson School District after 30 years of service.

Jan was married twice, but never had children. “I already had 30 kids a year, I didn’t want any more of my own!” Darryl Anderson was her first husband; they lived in Salem and Aumsville, OR. Terry Boyer was her second husband; they also lived in Salem. Even though she and Terry divorced, they set a high standard on how to divorce with class and respect, and remained friendly the rest of her life.

At the age of 58 Jan bought her very first home that was hers alone. This was when the saying "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it!" became a favorite. She was amazed at what she could do when she set her mind to it. She was like a kid in a candy store, delighting in every power tool she could acquire for her various projects. (If it was a power tool, she wanted it. She even threatened to build a special shop out back just for the power tools she collected.) Once she found her footing on fixing things, her favorite saying was "I am woman, hear me roar!!"

Jan shared her life with many dogs, all of them “throwaway” rescued dogs except for the very first one, Bailey. She adored her furkids and would go to any length to ensure they had a wonderful, comfortable, and safe life while they were sharing their home with her. Her heart would break every time she had to say goodbye to a furry friend when they went to the Rainbow Bridge, but her heart would open wide when the next mistreated, helpless, scared little dog came along. She realized she couldn't save them all but knew she could save one at a time. She usually rescued Cocker Spaniels, but over the years branched out to adopt a Bichon Frisee, a toy Poodle, and two Yorkies. Max and Benny were her final canine companions, and will live the rest of their lives with Jan’s best friend and fellow dog rescuer Linny.

After Jan retired from teaching, she quickly found retirement boring – and thus began her wonderful journey with the American Red Cross. She started volunteering in the canteen at the blood drive at the First United Methodist Church on the corner of State and Church Streets in 2003. Then a regional recruiting job became available and she applied for that, at the urging of one of the current recruiters. After much haggling over whether she could hold a paid position and still volunteer at blood drives, in 2004 she started working as a regional recruiter in the Red Cross West Salem office four hours a day, four days a week, leaving one day free to continue volunteering at the Methodist Church blood drive.

In 2006 the Blood Services department moved from West Salem, and the blood drive moved from the church, converging in the Center Point building at Cottage and Marion Streets. Once the blood drive was in the same building as the office staff, she had many donors that would ask for her to come out to the donor room when they donated so they could say hello. The blood drives became more frequent, and eventually working part time became full time – though her supervisor frequently had to ask “Where’s Jan?!” and more often than not had to coax her from a donor’s bedside back to her desk. Working was not as fun as hanging out with donors, but she used to say it kept her “off the streets and drug free.”

Jan's legacy at Red Cross is her friendships with the donors. She was her happiest when she was at a blood drive and "chatting with the cheetahs", as she called it. She was a welcome distraction to nervous donors (and nervous new staff!), loved to visit with everyone, hand out cookies and juice, and congratulate them on the incredible gift they were giving by donating blood. There was no such thing as a stranger to Jan when she was at a blood drive (or elsewhere for that matter); the only strangers, as far as she was concerned, were just the people she hadn't talked to yet. Visiting with donors turned into many wonderful friendships, forged in the spirit of donating blood and helping others.

Around 2016 Jan retired again, dropping all pretense of paid work, yet staying on to volunteer in the office and at blood drives nearly full time. Over the years, Jan logged THOUSANDS of hours of volunteer time; in 2025 alone she recorded 1799 volunteer hours. In 2025 she also received Blood Donor Ambassador of the Year, the top honor in the Northwest Region, for her incredible dedication to the American Red Cross.

If Jan had a signature color, it was definitely RED. Her favorite car was a RED Jeep Liberty (with the license plate TKT GTR for “ticket getter”). When she was 60, she got her first pair of hearing aids – in RED – and was amazing to learn that people actually CAN hear the blinker in their car when it is on! For decades she had RED hair, that she delighted in telling everyone she dyed. She wore RED clothes. And of course she could be found almost daily at the RED Cross!

The Red Cross building was her second home, coworkers were her family, and donors were her dear friends. When Jan started to decline due to worsening dementia and several health conditions, her Red Cross family and friends rallied around her. They ensured she was not alone in the hospital, and could come home on hospice to be with her beloved dogs. She passed peacefully at her home in Keizer, OR on July 17, 2026 surrounded by love. She is deeply missed.

Jan loved attending funerals, especially if there was good food. Join us in remembering her life and legacy on Saturday, September 26 at 4pm at Salem Elks Lodge, 2336 Turner Rd SE, Salem OR 97302. Please come share your favorite Jan stories, and enjoy finger foods and lots of desserts.

In lieu of flowers: to honor her passionate support, please consider donating blood, adopting a shelter pet, or giving to a dog rescue organization in your area.