Jan Ett Esther Smock,70, longtime organist at St. Thomas United Methodist Church in Manassas, passed to her heavenly home at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Fairfax, VA, Dec. 1, 2013, as the result of a stroke.
Jan was born November 3, 1943, in Beloit, KS, to Alvah and Pauline (Sadler) Menhusen. She attended school in Mankato, KS, where she was a lifelong member of Harmony United Methodist Church, playing the pipe organ there throughout high school. She graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ. She then attended Southern Methodist University, pursuing a Masters’ degree in Sacred Music.
Jan married Ken Smock on June 5, 1966, and they made their first home at the University of Kansas, where Ken was working on his MA. In these early years of marriage, Jan held a number of secretarial positions at KU. Later, when Ken was in the Army, Jan worked as both secretary and organist at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in California.
Ken and Jan moved to Manassas, VA, in 1976, and she shortly thereafter began her professional career in Manassas as organist, first at Manassas Presbyterian Church, then at St. Thomas United Methodist Church. This career spanned over 35 years. Jan was particularly gratified by the positive response to her own arrangements of medleys of beloved hymns. She also spent several years as an assistant to the music teacher at Brentsville High School in Nokesville, VA.
Genealogy was another passion of Jan’s, and she was a member of several genealogical societies. She and Ken visited cemeteries, courthouses, and libraries from Bozeman, MT, to the northern tip of Lake Chautauqua in New York in pursuit of information to further her research. Her publication in 2011 of a book on the history of Randall, KS, her mother’s hometown, was a rewarding and well-received achievement.
Mrs. Smock is survived by her husband, Kenneth L. Smock, sons Robert A. Smock and wife Sarah of Fairfax, VA, and David J. Smock and wife, Lisa Buzzelli, of Falls Church, VA, and her brother, Jon B. Menhusen and wife Rosalie, of Mankato, KS
Jan was born November 3, 1943, in Beloit, KS, to Alvah and Pauline (Sadler) Menhusen. She attended school in Mankato, KS, where she was a lifelong member of Harmony United Methodist Church, playing the pipe organ there throughout high school. She graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ. She then attended Southern Methodist University, pursuing a Masters’ degree in Sacred Music.
Jan married Ken Smock on June 5, 1966, and they made their first home at the University of Kansas, where Ken was working on his MA. In these early years of marriage, Jan held a number of secretarial positions at KU. Later, when Ken was in the Army, Jan worked as both secretary and organist at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in California.
Ken and Jan moved to Manassas, VA, in 1976, and she shortly thereafter began her professional career in Manassas as organist, first at Manassas Presbyterian Church, then at St. Thomas United Methodist Church. This career spanned over 35 years. Jan was particularly gratified by the positive response to her own arrangements of medleys of beloved hymns. She also spent several years as an assistant to the music teacher at Brentsville High School in Nokesville, VA.
Genealogy was another passion of Jan’s, and she was a member of several genealogical societies. She and Ken visited cemeteries, courthouses, and libraries from Bozeman, MT, to the northern tip of Lake Chautauqua in New York in pursuit of information to further her research. Her publication in 2011 of a book on the history of Randall, KS, her mother’s hometown, was a rewarding and well-received achievement.
Mrs. Smock is survived by her husband, Kenneth L. Smock, sons Robert A. Smock and wife Sarah of Fairfax, VA, and David J. Smock and wife, Lisa Buzzelli, of Falls Church, VA, and her brother, Jon B. Menhusen and wife Rosalie, of Mankato, KS
Jan Ett Esther Smock,70, longtime organist at St. Thomas United Methodist Church in Manassas, passed to her heavenly home at Inova Fairfax Hospital, Fairfax, VA, Dec. 1, 2013, as the result of a stroke.
Jan was born November 3, 1943, in Beloit, KS, to Alvah and Pauline (Sadler) Menhusen. She attended school in Mankato, KS, where she was a lifelong member of Harmony United Methodist Church, playing the pipe organ there throughout high school. She graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ. She then attended Southern Methodist University, pursuing a Masters’ degree in Sacred Music.
Jan married Ken Smock on June 5, 1966, and they made their first home at the University of Kansas, where Ken was working on his MA. In these early years of marriage, Jan held a number of secretarial positions at KU. Later, when Ken was in the Army, Jan worked as both secretary and organist at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in California.
Ken and Jan moved to Manassas, VA, in 1976, and she shortly thereafter began her professional career in Manassas as organist, first at Manassas Presbyterian Church, then at St. Thomas United Methodist Church. This career spanned over 35 years. Jan was particularly gratified by the positive response to her own arrangements of medleys of beloved hymns. She also spent several years as an assistant to the music teacher at Brentsville High School in Nokesville, VA.
Genealogy was another passion of Jan’s, and she was a member of several genealogical societies. She and Ken visited cemeteries, courthouses, and libraries from Bozeman, MT, to the northern tip of Lake Chautauqua in New York in pursuit of information to further her research. Her publication in 2011 of a book on the history of Randall, KS, her mother’s hometown, was a rewarding and well-received achievement.
Mrs. Smock is survived by her husband, Kenneth L. Smock, sons Robert A. Smock and wife Sarah of Fairfax, VA, and David J. Smock and wife, Lisa Buzzelli, of Falls Church, VA, and her brother, Jon B. Menhusen and wife Rosalie, of Mankato, KS
Jan was born November 3, 1943, in Beloit, KS, to Alvah and Pauline (Sadler) Menhusen. She attended school in Mankato, KS, where she was a lifelong member of Harmony United Methodist Church, playing the pipe organ there throughout high school. She graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina, KS, in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Organ. She then attended Southern Methodist University, pursuing a Masters’ degree in Sacred Music.
Jan married Ken Smock on June 5, 1966, and they made their first home at the University of Kansas, where Ken was working on his MA. In these early years of marriage, Jan held a number of secretarial positions at KU. Later, when Ken was in the Army, Jan worked as both secretary and organist at the Community Church of the Monterey Peninsula in California.
Ken and Jan moved to Manassas, VA, in 1976, and she shortly thereafter began her professional career in Manassas as organist, first at Manassas Presbyterian Church, then at St. Thomas United Methodist Church. This career spanned over 35 years. Jan was particularly gratified by the positive response to her own arrangements of medleys of beloved hymns. She also spent several years as an assistant to the music teacher at Brentsville High School in Nokesville, VA.
Genealogy was another passion of Jan’s, and she was a member of several genealogical societies. She and Ken visited cemeteries, courthouses, and libraries from Bozeman, MT, to the northern tip of Lake Chautauqua in New York in pursuit of information to further her research. Her publication in 2011 of a book on the history of Randall, KS, her mother’s hometown, was a rewarding and well-received achievement.
Mrs. Smock is survived by her husband, Kenneth L. Smock, sons Robert A. Smock and wife Sarah of Fairfax, VA, and David J. Smock and wife, Lisa Buzzelli, of Falls Church, VA, and her brother, Jon B. Menhusen and wife Rosalie, of Mankato, KS
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