Jan Wheelright

Jan Wheelwright passed away peacefully the night of October 7th 2026 at her home in Great Falls, MT. Janny old girl was such a character that condensing everything down to a few paragraphs is difficult, but here we go.

Jan was born February 22nd 1944 in Holladay, UT to Ben and Georgia Smith. She graduated from Olympus High School in 1962, and married Dave VanCampen a year later. They later divorced.

Jan and Dave had three children, two she claimed to have found under a rock, the third grown from an avocado pit. Jan caused much confusion and chaos for a time when she had people convinced she had twin sons, Joel and Chuck.

Jan proved herself adept at herding cats as a cub scout den mother among many other church callings. She was clever and creative, coming up with a unique bear skin to display her cubs merit badges and skill awards. The most memorable birthday parties included a treasure hunt with spray painted gold rocks. She also baked and decorated many epic multi tiered wedding cakes.

October was Jan's busiest month, when she would prepare for Christmas by deep cleaning the house and making hand dipped chocolates. Many white boxes were filled with well cursed at candy, tied with a plaid ribbon and sent out into the world to fill happy bellies. She also sewed and created most of the holiday decor she would decorate the house with. Instead of giving up, she would say “it's time to punt and play the defense” when something wasn't going together quite right.

Pumpkin hunting was something Jan took very seriously, studying each gourd until the appropriate ones were selected and the face she envisioned was expertly carved.

Toast and diet soda were Jan's primary fuel source. Jan could do anything as long as she had her faithful glass of diet soda by her side and toast sweat dominated her kitchen counters. Her grandchildren often ran away from home to go have toast and pop with grandma.

Jan's pride and joy was her palomino horse, Billy, earning her the name Grandma Horse. She loved having baking days, Easter egg hunts and Christmases.

In 1995, Jan married Harvey Wheelwright. They enjoyed nine years and several white knuckle road trips together. Jan further honed her cat herding skills by working for the Credit Bureau of Ogden, wrote briefly for the Morgan County news, and Pocket Change. She also bowled with the Thursday morning housewives and the Wednesday night mixed league in Morgan.

Jan is preceded in death by her parents, her brother Ed, sister-in-law Doris, daughter-in-law Kelli and granddaughter Lisa. She is survived by her children Chris (Noriko), Joel, Kathleen, and five grandchildren.

The Huntsville Holler will echo in our ears forever.

A viewing will be held Friday, October 16th 2026 from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM at Walker Mortuary in Morgan followed by a graveside service at 11:00 AM at the Milton Cemetery.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Benefis Eastview for taking such good care of our mom. And Walker Mortuary for their kindness in handling the logistics of bringing her back to Utah.