Janet Chloe (Heling) Roberts

Janet Roberts, 94, passed away on January 28, 2020, at Bee Hive Homes of Missoula.  Jan was born on May 20, 1925, to Josephine (Roubal) Heling and Charles Heling in Lindenhurst, Long Island, NY.

Jan graduated from Lindenhurst High in 1941 after skipping a year.  Ever the independent spirit, she left Pine Manor Junior College after one year to attend Black Mountain College, an experimental liberal arts college in North Carolina, for a year (1943-44), then an agricultural college in New York (1944-45).  She returned to Black Mountain College (1945-47), where she met and married Richard Roberts on October 3, 1947. Her time at BMC was to be one of the defining experiences in her life. There she established life-long friendships with teachers, artists and scholars.

The couple taught for a year (1947-48) in two one-room schools on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.  They moved to Absarokee in 1948, then Columbus, Montana, in 1951, where they raised two children. While in Columbus, Jan taught piano and ran her own kindergarten, the first the town had ever seen.  She completed a Bachelor's degree in reading at Eastern Montana College (EMC) in 1962, where she taught remedial reading courses and was the director of the summer remedial reading program. In 1965, the family moved to Busby, MT, on the Northern Cheyenne reservation, where Jan taught remedial reading courses for two years.  She was then hired to establish and direct the Head Start program on the reservation, the first Native American Head Start in the country.

The family left the reservation in 1969 when Jan became the Head Start Training Officer for the state of Montana at the University of Montana, where she remained until 1975.  She also taught early childhood education courses at the University of Montana and Big Sky High School and did consulting in child development (1973-76). After retiring from teaching in 1976, she worked for the city of Superior, MT, from 1979 until 1980.  She returned to doing consulting and training in early childhood education and child development from 1980 to 1995.

Her career with Head Start endeared her to many co-workers and Head Start parents who became fast friends for life.  She was accepting and open to people from all walks of life. She preferred to see the good in people.

Jan and Richard bought property on Oregon Creek near Superior in 1972 with which they established the first conservation easement in Mineral County with the Five Valleys Land Trust.  In 1980, they started building a log house on the property which was completed in 1982. Jan loved the peace and solitude that came with living close to nature. Her multitude of friends hale from not only Montana but from all around the world, many of whom came to visit Jan and Richard at their idyllic home among the cedars bordering Oregon Creek.  When Richard died in 2007, she continued to live on the property surrounded by nature.

Jan could be identified by the headlight which she wore around the house and even on trips to Superior.  She needed the headlight in her home which had no electricity and was lighted only by kerosene lamps. Occasionally, visiting family members had to turn her headlight off which she was still wearing after falling asleep in bed.

Jan loved to play board games and card games with friends and neighbors.  She had a competitive spirit and was even known to gloat when she won.

Jan broke her leg in 2013 and spent a month or two in rehab in Missoula.  Through sheer will power, Jan recovered and returned to her home on the banks of Oregon Creek.  Thanks to wonderfully supportive friends and neighbors who helped with chores and errands, she was able to live on her own until she departed for the Bee Hive in 2018.  There she continued to receive a multitude of friends, who returned her generosity and love.

"There are some who bring a light so great to the world that even after they are gone, the light remains."  Message on a sympathy card received from a friend

"I'm not going to die, I'm going home like a shooting star."  Sojourner Truth

She is survived by daughter Jo Amy, son Mark and daughter-in-law Monique Roy.

Details regarding a celebration of life planned for later this spring will be posted on this website when appropriate.

Donations in Jan's memory may be made to:

AniMeals

1700 Rankin St.

Missoula, MT  59808

or

Humane Society of Western Montana

PO Box 1059

Missoula, MT  59806

or

Five Valleys Land Trust

120 Hickory Street

Missoula, MT  59801