Freeport – Janet Eileen Busekros (90) of Freeport, Illinois passed away on January 1, 2026.  She loved life and was a strong fighter until the end.

She was born March 23, 1935 in Beloit, Wisconsin, the daughter of Wilbur and Mildred Sherwood.  She had two brothers, Raymond and Lee Sherwood and two sisters, Patricia Parriott and Lois Maher.

Growing up she lived in several towns in Wisconsin and she was on the King and Queen Court for Senior Prom in 1949.  She eventually settled in Freeport, IL.

She was employed by several insurance agencies before becoming an LPN in 1973.  She worked at Freeport Memorial Hospital and the Stephenson Nursing Center.  She also worked 22 years at Micro Switch before retiring in 1996. After retirement she began sewing and scrapbooking making many cherished gifts for family and friends, along with taking piano and guitar lessons.  After several years, she returned to work at Experience Works through IDES and Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.  She eventually retired again in 2012.

Her greatest joy was spending time with her siblings, children, grandchildren and all her family and friends.  She always made sure everyone had a great time.  She enjoyed shopping and picking out the latest gadgets.  She also loved listening to country music, especially George Jones and Mickey Gilley.

She was married to Roland Williams and had one daughter, Diane Tibbets.  She was also married to Kenneth Brown and had three children, Barbara (Les) Pugh of Bloomington, IL; Robert "Bobby" Brown of Freeport, IL and Margie (Kenny) Gantz of Broussard, LA.

She had seven grandchildren, Aaron (Alexea) Tibbets, Bethany Tibbets, Jason (Carl) Stewart, Tony Pugh, Justine (Pugh) Morris, Melissa (Cody) Bouvia and Michelle Cross.

She had 18 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one sister, Patricia Parriott; one daughter, Diane Tibbets; one son-in-law, Les Pugh; one brother-in-law, Donald Maher; special friends, Patricia Kubly and Janet "Net" Kreiger; and many special cousins.

There will be a visitation held on Saturday, January 10th at 11am at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.  The service will immediately follow at 11:30 at the Chapel with Pastor Chris Stukenberg presiding over services.

A memorial has been designated in her name for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. https://donate.nationalmssociety.org/campaigns/In-Memory-of-Janet-Busekros .  Condolences can be left for the family at www.walkermortuary.com