Janese Marie Chrystal

Janese Marie Chrystal passed away peacefully at home on June 26, 2026, surrounded by the love of her family and an extraordinary community of friends. During the final seven weeks of her life, countless people visited, called, shared stories, and offered their care. Their kindness reflected the life Janese had spent caring for others. She had a gift for making people feel welcome, valued, and loved, and in the end, that love found its way back to her many times over.

 

Janese Marie Harings was born November 21, 1945 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, the oldest of six children. She married the love of her life, Lynn Chrystal, on January 16,1965. Shortly after their marriage, the young couple packed everything they owned into a Ford Mustang and a small utility trailer and headed up the highway to Alaska. After a brief stay in Anchorage, Lynn accepted a position with the National Weather Service in Barrow, Alaska, where daughters Tina and Rene were born. In 1967, the family moved to Yakutat, where they welcomed their daughter, Stacy.

 

When the family moved to Valdez in 1975, Janese began working outside the home for the first time. After a brief time as a cashier at the local grocery store, she joined the Valdez Police Department, where she would spend the next 23 years serving the community.

 

She began as a dispatcher and eventually became the Department Administrative and Dispatch Supervisor, serving as the trusted right hand to a succession of five Police Chiefs. Colleagues often said that nothing happened in the department that Janese did not know about. She was the person everyone turned to for answers, guidance, and encouragement. She led with honesty, fairness, and quiet confidence, holding people accountable while always wanting them to succeed. Many affectionately described her as "everyone's mom" at the department—a mentor who could keep young officers out of trouble, celebrate their successes, and make each person feel valued. Long after her retirement in 1999, the friendships she built at the Valdez Police Department remained an important part of her life.

 

While her career at the Valdez Police Department made her a familiar face throughout the community, her impact reached far beyond her work. Janese devoted countless hours to organizations that strengthened Valdez and enriched the lives of its residents. She devoted decades to Gold Rush Days, beginning as a Can-Can dancer shortly after arriving in Valdez and later managing the Gold Rush retail store, helping raise scholarship funds for local students. In 2002, when the Hospital Auxiliary was looking for new leadership, Janese offered her services. Under her guidance, the organization raised funds to provide infant car seats for new parents, support long-term care, and award scholarships for Certified Nursing Assistants. Whether the need was large or small, Janese rarely hesitated to volunteer.

 

 

More than anything, Janese loved bringing people together. Her home was a place where everyone felt welcome, no matter the occasion or even when there was no occasion. She thrived when hosting family gatherings, holiday celebrations, and dinners with friends. Her parties were legendary! Cooking was her love language and all who knew her felt that love. She catered weddings, graduations and birthdays for friends and family. She also prepared meals and desserts for countless fundraising events, including library book basket auctions and Hospital Auxiliary fundraisers. Her banana cream pies became legendary, often raising hundreds of dollars at charity auctions.

 

After forty years in Valdez, Janese and Lynn settled in Settler's Bay near Wasilla. Before long, much of the family followed, choosing to live nearby. There is perhaps no better measure of the lives they built than the fact that so many wanted to be close to them.

 

Janese was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 59 years, Lynn Chrystal, in 2024 and her brother, Randy Harings. She is survived by her daughters, Tina Summers (Stuart), Rene Chrystal (Bill Gillespie), and Stacy Escobedo (Manny); grandchildren Brittany Chavez (Kawehi), and Maximilian and Melissa Escobedo; great-grandsons Emmitt and Aiden Chavez; sisters Shirley Stassel and Nancy Johnson; brothers Chuck Harings and Rod Harings; and sister-in-law Jana (Chrystal) Stojsavljevic.