Janet (Barnes) Sartelle

Janet Barnes Sartelle (1944-2018) was the daughter of Walter and Kathryn Barnes of Mableton, Georgia. She was a graduate of Montreat Anderson College in Black Mountain, North Carolina. From her elementary years, Janet served the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as her Creator, Sustainer and Redeemer. She served Him with her gifts in music, art, needlepoint and her many creations from Southern cuisine. She served Him as a wife and mother...her family was always the center of her daily actions and prayers. She served Him as a dearly loved minister’s wife through 50 years, four pastorates and the turbulent times that gave birth to a new Reformed denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. She served Him in awe and worship of His transcendence and in the freedom of His grace.  She served Him as she welcomed the expected and unexpected, the prosperous and the needy, the healthy and the broken to her table with gracious hospitality. Her great joy was learning from Him that she could serve Him all day, every day, wherever she was changing a baby’s diaper, cooking a meal, or having a glass of wine with family and friends. She exuded an unpredictable spontaneity, a holy irreverence, which brought joy and laughter to every situation, from choir practices to dinners she hosted.

She met John Sartelle in 1960 and by 1965 he had persuaded her to marry him. Three children somehow survived their efforts in parenting, Jill Sartelle Street (Zack),  John Sartelle, Jr. (Ashley), and Jamie Sartelle DeNovo (Robert). She treasured the time she had with her nine grandchildren (Jim, Baugh, Phoebe, John III, Lali, Sarah Allison, Charlie, Eve, Barnes) and their Memsie’s prayers will remain before God leading them all of their days.

Her indomitable spirit and faith were most clearly seen in her love, joy, and perseverance even as she struggled with pancreatic cancer. The Lord called her home on Wednesday, July 25, 2018.

There was a memorial service at 12 Noon on Friday, August 3, 2018 at Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis. Prior to the service, the family hosted a reception in the fellowship hall from 10 to 11:45 A.M.

Janet desired that any memorials be sent to the Building Fund of Christ Presbyterian Church, 500 Teague Store Road, Somerville, TN 38068.