LOUISBURG - Dr. Janet Leonard Wester, wife, mother, retired English professor, died Tuesday February 3, 2015. She was born January 8, 1933, to W. Henry and Gladys B. Leonard, who preceded her in death. In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her husband, W. Donald Wester. She loved her family, her home, and her flower gardens. She loved to travel and to meet various cultures. She was especially enamored of gaining new knowledge on many subjects and believed, as every good teacher should, that learning is a lifelong pursuit. Her favorite quotation was "He who is not busy being born is busy dying," and she attempted to live by that philosophy.

She married young and, after her three children were school-age, she earned an AA degree from Louisburg College and a B.A., M.A., and D. Ed. from North Carolina State University, all with high honors. She was a member of Phi Kappa Phi and an honorary member of Phi Theta Kappa, an honors organization for which she was a faculty advisor for several years. She retired from a thirty-three-year career at Peace College in Raleigh in May 2004. During her tenure there, she served as Chair of the Humanities Division for six years, Coordinator of Honors/Scholars for four years, Director of Summer programs for twelve years, and Advisor to the Yearbook staff for seventeen years. She loved her students and her College and felt blessed to have found a place where she believed that she made a difference in the lives of young women.

Dr. Wester is survived by son, Barry D. Wester and wife, Anne of Bath, NC, by son, Leonard F. Wester and wife, Dorothy of Louisburg, daughter, J. Hope Wester of Henderson, by grandson, Travis Wester and wife, Jenny, by granddaughters, Brooks W. Smith and her husband, Tim, granddaughters, Cassie Joyner and her husband, Kyle, Natalie Farmer and her husband, Jason, Jamie Weaver and her fiancé, Alex Campbell, 5 great-grandsons, 2 great-granddaughters. She is also survived by a brother and sister-in-law, Ralph and Betsy Leonard of Tifton, GA.

At Dr. Wester's request, services will be private.

Arrangements are by Strickland Funeral Home & Crematory, Louisburg, www.stricklandfuneralhome.net.

Paid Obituary