Janet Olsen Richey was born in Merced, California on June 10th, 1957. She is the second child and only daughter of Dan and Darcus Olsen. She is survived by her husband Jonathan, her children Jonathan, Jared, Justin, Janae and James, and her brothers Dan, David, Eric & Kent.
She spent most of her life in California’s San Joaquin Valley. She began learning the piano from her mother, played the flute/piccolo and swam for Selma High School. She studied Music and Interpersonal Communication at Brigham Young University, was an accomplished piano and organ player, and a certified life-coach.
She married Jonathan M. Richey, the love of her life, for time and all eternity, on May 19th, 1978 in the Los Angeles Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Janet's musical talents led her to direct many choirs, including the dedicatory choir for the Latter-Day Saint Temple in Fresno, California. She produced, directed and starred in numerous community, school, and church musical and dance productions — When It’s Love, Savior of the World, My Servant Joseph, From Cumorah's Hill, This is Jesus, The Music Man, and Charlie Brown, to name a few. She was the creator of the Valiant Youth Choir for her children and their friends to have a positive place to testify of Jesus Christ and interact through music and dance.
Serving faithfully in many church callings, one of her favorites was strengthening children’s testimonies through songs of their Savior as the Primary Chorister.
In March of 2020, she followed a strong spiritual impression to sell their home in California and move to Texas, bringing her and her husband closer to many of her children and grandchildren. Within a few months of their arrival, she was diagnosed with ALS which created an imbalance between her lifelong creativity, talents and service, and her physical abilities to share them.
She passed away peacefully in her sleep on the 17th of January close to family. She requested her funeral service to be “loving, speak of memories, and joyful. Sing lots of great songs that will lift your spirit! We will have a joyful resurrection!”
A viewing will be held at 10:00 am, Saturday, January 22, 2022 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 970 North Coit in Prosper. A funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 22, 2022 at the church. The zoom video link starts at 10:30 a.m.: https://zoom.us/j/98739055243. Interment will follow at Ridgeview West Memorial Park, 7800 Sanctuary Drive in Frisco. A family visitation will be held on Friday afternoon 4:00-6:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home, 2525 Central Expressway North in Allen, Texas.