Janet Goff Neckyfarow

Published 4:52 pm Friday, December 20, 2024

Janet Goff Neckyfarow, 75, of Fernandina Beach, FL, passed away on December 16^th from complications from ALS.

Janet was born December 15, 1949 in Rockville Centre, NY and grew up in Baldwin, NY, the daughter of Joseph Henry Goff and Eileen Chalk Goff.

In 1968, Janet graduated from Baldwin High School, then went on to SUNY Albany, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1972 with a B.A. in French. She received her M.Ed. from UNC Charlotte in Teaching English as a Second Language in 1994.

Janet married Steven Neckyfarow of Watertown, MA on September 4, 1971 at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Roman Catholic Church in Roosevelt, NY. Throughout their marriage they lived in Troy, NY, Sayre, PA, Charlotte, NC, Chocowinity, NC, and moved to Fernandina Beach, FL on Amelia Island in the Spring of 2022.

A lover of language and culture, Janet worked as a teacher of French, Spanish and ESL at schools in Elmira, NY, Charlotte, NC, and Beaufort County, NC. She taught ESL at UNC Charlotte and HIAS in Charlotte, NC. She also volunteered as a translator for immigrant communities at Eagle’s Wings Pantry in Washington, NC.

Janet was a gifted singer and musician and loved sewing and crafts, especially making quilts for her loved ones. She enjoyed playing golf for many years with her husband and the women of Cypress Landing Golf Club. She traveled through school and exchange programs to Amsterdam, Holland and Nice, France – even getting engaged to Steven by Air Mail – and took many trips and cruises with her husband including to Tahiti, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and South America.

Despite her ALS diagnosis in 2022, Janet was unfailingly positive, always trying focus on what she could do, rather than what she had lost. She stayed active while she could by taking walks on the beach and with line dancing at the MacArthur Family YMCA. She enjoyed time with local friends in a book club and French conversation group, even when she could no longer speak verbally.

Janet was preceded in death by her parents Joseph and Eileen Goff, and is survived by her husband of 53 years, Steven Neckyfarow, daughters Jennifer Willis (Kyle Willis), Natalie Neckyfarow, and Karen Haynes (Tim Haynes), grandchildren Sarah Wright (Dan Wright), Weylin Dubé, and Cyrus Haynes, great-grandchildren Aiden Neckyfarow-Osborne and Fletcher Wright, sister Pamela Rockett, and nieces and nephews who will never forget the love she brought to their lives.

Funeral mass will be held January 11, 2025 at 11 am at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Fernandina Beach, FL, with Rev. Eric Stelzer officiating. There will be a reception following in the Parish Hall.

Memorial donations in Janet’s memory may be directed to the ALS Association (www.als.org).

Please share your memories and condolences at www.oxleyheard.com