Janay Leewaine John Due

Janay Leewaine John Due, born in Grandfield, Oklahoma, on July 2, 1937, passed away peacefully June 17, 2022, at Comanche County Hospital. Born to J.L. and Marewaine John of Grandfield, Janay was the oldest of three daughters.

After growing up in Grandfield and graduating in 1955, Janay married Cletus Due, on October 24, 1955. They had two children, Ranay and James Lowell. Cletus’s job with Halliburton took them north to Colorado, Nebraska, and finally to Rock Springs, Wyoming. After Ranay graduated in 1975, they moved back to Grandfield to begin their lifelong dream of farming with her parents. After Cletus preceded her in death in 1999, she continued farming until 2006. She loved the land so much that her daughter called her Scarlett O’Hara.

Janay was a caring and compassionate member of the Grandfield community until her passing. She loved serving her church, Grandfield First United Methodist Church, in many capacities: playing the piano every Sunday, coordinating children’s choir and special programs, organizing funeral dinners, ordering Sunday School materials, serving on the board, decorating the sanctuary for Christmas, and preparing the weekly bulletin. She felt like God made her be the church pianist because, although she was hesitant about taking that position, He gave her the talent and confidence to play with Virnitia every Sunday. She mentored many young people through the church, and many of them lovingly refer to her as “Granny” to this day. For years, her family laughingly referred to her as the “assistant pastor” because her love for her church and her God was foremost in a long list of service.

She also served on the Grandfield Public Library Board, the Tillman County Election Board, and the Grandfield Preservation Commission, and the Grandfield Alumni Committee. She was a member of the Chapter EF of P.E.O and Black Katz, sharing her time and talent for the Miss Grandfield Pageant. Her philanthropy, her servant heart, her positivity, and her love for church and community made her life rich indeed.

Janay was passionate about her life and the people in it. She loved her family fiercely and loved being with them. Everything was “fun” for her: digging old bottles in the dump, finding fossils and rocks, plowing, fishing, shopping, mowing—and more fun if family or friends were involved. Janay had many friends, and she often spoke of how fortunate she had been, all her life, to have these treasured friendships. They loved her, and she loved them back with some unseen force that bound them together. Many of them, from all seasons of her life, became like family.

Hardworking, committed, driven, and determined, Janay was undaunted by any task, crawling up on her mother’s roof at age 83 to repair it and always creating ways to perform difficult tasks—without asking anyone for help. She always had a project: refinishing furniture, sewing, doing craftwork, gardening, researching genealogy, baking cakes and cookies (always to share!), collecting antiques, and compiling information for church and community tasks. She completed all these tasks for the benefit of others and loved adding glitter and sequins wherever she could! She was a woman of many talents: she could farm, paint, sew, and build everything from baby doll beds to a ramp for her shed. She may have been a little stubborn, but as Amy said, “She was a perfect example of how a Christian was SUPPOSED to live her life—serving God and serving others.”

Janay is survived by her daughter, Ranay Thompson and her husband Steve of Oklahoma City; her grandson Brett Alcorn, his son Mason and daughter Kylie of Moore; her granddaughter Whitney (Alcorn) Fellers, her husband Matthew and daughters Emma and Hadley (and Baby Fellers due January, 2023) of Edmond; her grandson Justin Due and girlfriend Emily Neely of Altus; her step-grandson Cole Thompson; her sister Janita Mahoney and her husband Jerry of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; her sister Jimianne John of Plano, Texas; her nephew John Mahoney and his wife Stephanie of Philadelphia; her great nephew Matthew Mahoney of Madison, Wisconsin; her adopted granddaughter, Amanda (McCombs) Huston, her husband Brady and daughter Kennedy; and a host of beautiful friends. She was preceded in death by her son James Lowell Due, her parents J.L. and Marewaine John, and her only love, Cletus Due.