Janie B. Dukes

Janie B. Dukes graduated to glory on June 2, 2022 at 96 years of age. She was at home, surrounded in her final days by her four loving caregivers, Teresa, Heather, Jennifer and Michelle, along with beloved friends and family.

Janie was born on July 13th, 1925, to Nancy Parr Blake and James Spegal Blake in Sinton,Texas, a town with a current population of 5,400 just a few miles from Corpus Christi. The family moved from Sinton to Odem and eventually to Corpus Christi, where Janie graduated from high school.

Janie was raised in the Southern Baptist Church, active in the choir and as a teacher in Baptist Training Union and Sunday school. Her love for God and reliance on Jesus was always evident in her conversations, based largely on her faithful Bible study. She collected and studied numerous versions of the Bible along with various study guides and devotionals. Her favorite Bible contains hundreds of highlights, and friends considered her a Bible scholar in her own right.

Janie loved children, animals, music, the arts, classic movies, and was an avid reader and lifelong student who also kept current with the news of the day. In short, she was a remarkable member of The Greatest Generation. As a “Southern Lady,” her graciousness as a hostess was a plus in her husband’s leadership roles as a marine officer and World War II hero.

In addition to raising two daughters and serving as a dedicated military wife, Janie mastered the art of sewing from her mother and made many of the beautiful dresses she wore in the 50’s and 60’s. She was a self-taught, gifted and prolific artist, with many of her acrylic paintings on display in her home and in the homes of friends and family. And she loved to play bridge. Anyone just being introduced to the game of Bridge would have loved to have been graced with Janie as a partner. She was both cheerful and forgiving when a partner made a mistake; just another example of Janie’s playfulness and gentle grace.

Janie was always eager to talk about the love of her life, General William “Bill” P. Dukes, who she would call “her General,” or sometimes even more fondly, “her boy.” Janie and Bill met and married in Corpus Christi, where he was training as a Marine pilot, and she worked in a local retail store. General Dukes’s long years of military service and post-graduate education took them to cities throughout the U.S. and overseas. Upon General Dukes’s retirement from the marines and completion of his PhD at Cornell University, Janie and Bill settled in Lubbock where they were long-time residents throughout Bill’s distinguished teaching career in the College of Business at Texas Tech University. Most importantly, throughout all their travels, Janie and Bill were faithful and devoted partners for 73 years and dedicated their lives to the service of others and country.

In addition to her parents and her loving husband, Janie is preceded in death by her two brothers, Arthur Blake, and Eugene Franklin Blake. She is also preceded in death by her two daughters, Sheryl Leah Dukes and Lynn Ayer Dukes-Wheatcraft.

Janie is survived by her niece, Stacey Johnson (J.D.), her great niece, Jade Archibald (Andrew), and Jade and Andrew’s children, Blake and Abigail Archibald.

Janie, and Bill as well, had the most amazing experience of sacrificial friendship in their later years in the person of Kathryn “Kathy” Suchy. Kathy was a colleague with Bill at Texas Tech. When Bill became ill, she responded by helping them with day-to-day chores. In time, she became a surrogate daughter, helping Janie cross over to her Lord in peace and confidence in her remaining days. She was Janie’s angel.

Janie’s life will be celebrated on Tuesday, June 14, 2022 with a 10am Celebration of Life officiated by her long-time friend, Dr. Jack Griggs. Interment will follow in Resthaven Memorial Park and refreshments to follow inside the funeral home.

The Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University holds a “William P. and Janie B. Dukes Endowment” dedicated to undergraduate students majoring in Finance. In lieu of flowers, a gift to this fund in Janie’s name would be appreciated and would serve to extend the Dukes’s legacy into the future.