Born January 5, 1954, in Silver Creek, New York, Janet Fetner Thomas became a true Deep Southerner, having lived in Mississippi since 1977, and in Decatur’s Scanlan Community since 1981 after her marriage to Olin Carson Thomas. Her parents, Jackie Homan Fetner and Sylvester Biggs Fetner, deceased, had six children in all. Janet’s brother Ronald Fetner lives in Seaford, Virginia; brother Gary Fetner is deceased; Janet was third; sister Julie Hammack lives in Williamsburg, Virginia; brother Tim Fetner lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia; and sister Jennifer Raymond also lives in Williamsburg, as does their mother, who will be 95 on January 29. Janet says of her large family, “We’re blessed! We all get along. We do group messages on our phones.”
Janet’s father, a Navy man, became an air traffic controller, first in the Buffalo airport in Silver Creek, then in other airports in Virginia, before settling in Williamsburg. Her mother had been a bookkeeper at the Naval Annex in Washington, D.C., before their marriage. Janet was three when they moved to northern Virginia.
Janet told me her mother was Methodist, and her dad attended church some until after retirement, when he always went. A Methodist her entire life, she told me of the time, as a teenager, she made her spiritual decisions. She explained, “In Virginia, they had a ‘lay witness mission.’ A team of people would come in and work with small groups. Right before ninth grade, I accepted Christ for myself. It was kind of a revival, August of about 1968, at the Graham Road UMC.”
She continued, “The following Easter, I went to the sunrise service at the same church. One woman gave her testimony. After she finished, she asked everybody to close their eyes and listen, and she said that God would knock on the door of your heart. I heard a loud knock, and thought it had been staged in the church until I asked someone else who said they had not heard it.” Janet spoke of things that had happened throughout her life, “unexplainable things,” that have given her an awareness of the presence of God.
Graduating from George C. Marshall High School in 1972, Janet received her B.S. in Nursing at the University of Virginia in 1976, with high honors. She worked at the UV Hospital about 1½ years before a graduate student from Jackson, Mississippi, helped her find a job in Jackson with the State Department of Health, in October 1977, where she worked about two years in the Hinds County Health Department in the hypertension program. Janet then began employment at the Baptist Hospital in Jackson on the Gynecological-Oncology floor. To help with this level of nursing, she sought a Master’s in Community Counseling, which she earned from Mississippi College in 1980.
Olin Carson Thomas was born September 27, 1955. His one sister, Frances Dawn Thomas, is now deceased. His parents were Mary Frances McNair Thomas and Robert Thomas, whose parents both died when he was two to three years old, the youngest of five boys who were all taken into an orphanage. As each boy got old enough, he joined the military. After serving in the military, Olin’s father came to this area with a Navy buddy, where he met Olin’s mother and they were married, making their home in Scanlan on family land.
Janet met her husband Olin at the hospital, when he came to visit his sister. The charge nurse that day, Janet was surprised when he asked her out. Their first date was on his birthday and they were married December 29, 1981, at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. After their marriage, Janet worked for the Lauderdale County Health Department from January 1982, then Newton County Health Department later. She did Home Health for a while, worked in high-risk maternity, retiring at 58 after 28 years with the Health Departments of Lauderdale and Newton Counties.
Olin worked at a nursery in Newton when they met then worked in maintenance for the Meridian schools for several years. Having worked construction before they met, later he taught construction trades at the Meridian Community College. He helped lead students in constructing buildings on campus, one being the campus chapel. He had also earned his A.A. in Ornamental Horticulture from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Janet told me of their home that exhibits the benefits of Olin’s expertise in horticulture. “We live on almost forty acres and have a big greenhouse with hydroponic vegetables growing in the winter and a big garden in the spring.”
She told me of events before Olin’s father’s death. “I had to drive our old pickup truck that had to have water added frequently. One day my father-in-law had to be taken to the hospital but refused to go in an ambulance, so I needed to take him in that old truck. I prayed, ‘Lord, You’ve got to get me there.’ I made it there and back, and the next day it needed water added often again.” He had wanted to be buried on the property in Scanlon, so after his death, Janet shared, “He was buried near a pecan tree that had never had pecans, but the year after he died it had lots of pecans.”
Janet and Olin have four sons. Her stepson Benjamin Thomas, 44, is in the Army National Guard. His wife Carol Dean works at a medical clinic, and they live in Haughton, Louisiana. Janet’s first son, Olin Gary Thomas, born in 1983, is Lab Director for two hospitals and a free-standing lab. He earned his B.S. from Mississippi State in Biological Science and his Master’s from the University of Virginia in Laboratory Management. He is married to Erin Mitchell Thomas, and they have two children Preston, ten, and Caroline, seven. Their third son is Daniel Lacy Thomas, born in 1985. Daniel, who is co-owner of Reliable Roofing in Laurel, Mississippi, is married to Kimberly Barrett. They have three girls, twins Addy and Eden, nine, and Mercy, eight. Kimberly, an L.P.N., is a kindergarten aide at Laurel Christian School. Born in 1988, Olin and Janet’s son David Ernest Thomas is married to Summer Jennings, and they have a son, Rhett, six. David is a nurse who works at Baptist Hospital in Jackson in the Recovery Room. His wife Summer is an occupational therapist for Union and Newton Public Schools, and they live in the Scanlan Community.
Janet and Olin are longtime members of Decatur Methodist Church. Both have taught Sunday School, and Janet has always sung in the choir. She plays organ for services and plays piano when needed, while Olin has been a Trustee for several years. She was Lay Leader for four years. They oversee the church food pantry and coordinate taking meals to shut-ins. As a certified Lay Servant, Janet speaks from the pulpit at times.
Actually, I met Janet on the sidewalk at the front of the Decatur Methodist Church, with a hope that her story would be written for this column. God is good!
Live for Jesus! He’s coming soon! You may contact me at lagnesrussell@gmail.com or 601-635-3282.
