JANET LOUISE DAWDY SCHAFFER, 70, Passed away December 16, 2003 in Denver. She was preceded in death by a son MARK and survived by mother, Edith Dawdy of Sheridan, children Pam, Mike, and Paul, sisters Marilyn, Carol, and Marie, ex husband Don, and seven grandchildren.

Janet’s son Mark was severely injured in a football accident in 1969 and required full time care in a nursing home. We met Janet and she told us her son was in a nursing home for young people in Denver and we might want to look into the establishment for our son Randy who was injured in a car wreck in 1970. We thought Randy might enjoy the other young people in that nursing home so we took him there in 1980 and he was Mark’s roommate.

The nursing home was fun. There were about 60 residents between the ages of 14 and 55 and they had had lots of fun. Many, including Randy, had electric wheelchairs and they interacted with each other in fun ways. They smuggled in beer and marijuana and had great parties. The care wasn’t too great and we had to watch them pretty close but the kids had fun. By 1990 the place had gone broke three times and they finally had to become a rehabilitation hospital to make ends meet. The boys were forced to move and they hated to leave such a fun place.

Mark and Randy went to different nursing homes and we visited him and went to lunch with Janet several times a year to keep up on their care. Janet’s big wish was that she would outlive Mark and others would not have to care for him. He passed away a year ago so Janet died happy. They found her taking a nap.