Janet Elsie Dailey

Janet Elsie Good Dailey, 93, passed away after a very brief illness on June 3, 2026, at the Adventist Hospital in Ukiah, California, surrounded by the love and comfort of her family.

Born on January 28, 1933, in Baldwin Park, CA, to Helen and Otto Good, “Jan” was the youngest of three daughters. Their loving parents instilled in them at an early age a deep appreciation of nature and of our State and National Parks and spent many vacations visiting them with the family trailer hitched to their car.

Janet was always a creative talent and became involved in theater during her high school years at Covina High, acting in many plays, often with lead roles. After high school, Janet attended Mt. San Antonio State College in Walnut, California, earning her Associate’s Degree in Education in 1952, and afterwards she enrolled in San Jose State College to pursue a degree in Art Education.

Janet would often reminisce about the good ol’ days including her college summers living and working in Yellowstone National Park, waiting tables at the famous Lake Lodge restaurant. It’s there that she met her husband to be, Frank H. Dailey. He and friends were on their way to California, as the story goes, from their home in Indiana, but ran out of money and took a job digging ditches in Yellowstone to earn what they needed to continue their trip. Jan and Frank were married on December 27, 1955. They had 5 children over the course of 10 years—two boys and three girls. Before settling in Ukiah, CA, they moved multiple times with Frank’s Air Force assignments living in both Long Beach and Livermore, CA, as well as Clinton, OK, and then to Indianapolis, IN for Frank’s internship as a physician. They finally moved to Ukiah in 1963, when Frank started his practice and Jan settled into being a stay-at-home mom of five children. Following their divorce in 1983, Jan began a new chapter in her life. She settled in San Anselmo, CA and eventually met John Dugan, a dear friend who became her beloved partner for the next ten years until his untimely passing.

One thing Janet was forever passionate about was traveling. She also enjoyed fashion and was always well put together. In the late 1970’s Jan and Frank took a European cruise to the Holy Land, and Jan created and sewed most of her beautiful wardrobe for the trip. In 1981, Jan, Frank and their youngest daughter moved to Saudi Arabia for a year where Frank worked as a physician. This gave them the opportunity to travel extensively through Europe and parts of Africa. Jan also spent some time in the late 1980’s and 90’s vacationing in Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico. And, around 2005 Jan travelled to Tuscany, Italy along with an art class, where they painted the Tuscan landscape on location. She later took a cruise along parts of the Danube River, visiting Budapest and other historic locations along the way. Jan was sure to educate herself before, during, and after a trip, on the historic importance of each location she visited.

All of Jan’s travels, near and far, inspired her artwork. She painted many beautiful scenes in and around Ukiah and Northern California, including ocean vistas, numerous old barns, grape vineyards, Victorian era homes, the coastal town of Mendocino and Lake County. Anyone who spent time with her would hear Jan comment on the splendor around her, which she found everywhere in the natural world. While living in the Sacramento area, Jan became an active member of the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, where she participated in numerous group shows, took classes, and volunteered as a docent. Giving back was very important to Janet, and she donated artwork annually for the fundraisers at Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Ancil Hoffman Park on the American River, a park she enjoyed visiting regularly for decades. When she returned to Ukiah, Jan got involved right away with the local Corner Gallery where she had the opportunity to exhibit several times for their monthly shows that always opened with First Friday. She made sure to clear her calendar for those Friday events, which included a visit to the Grace Hudson Museum and Sun House.

Jan was a spiritual person and a devout Christian, and from the 1990’s until early 2023 she lived in the Sacramento, CA area, where she found her church home at Faith Lutheran in Fair Oaks. After moving back to Ukiah in 2023, she was so happy to join another Faith Lutheran Church, beautifully located near Todd Grove Park. As a thoughtful and kind person, she would pray for those in need, whether she knew them or not. She also prayed for world peace, for our planet, and for rain, and when her prayers were answered, she always thanked the Lord. Janet read and studied the Bible cover to cover, ten times, and was well into her eleventh when she passed. This wasn’t something she boasted about. Rather, she had recorded each completion on the back page of her Bible so that she could keep track for herself.

Janet was obviously an avid reader and felt like something was missing if she didn’t have a book to enjoy. She was also passionate about old movies with actors such as Bette Davis and Cary Grant, and even had a journal that she called “Movies and Movie Stars” where she listed all the actors she could remember off the top of her head. She had 170 names. Another major interest Jan had was in the mystery of UFO’s (or UAP’s). She was definitely a believer and really loved watching shows such as “Ancient Aliens”, “Project Blue Book”, and “The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch”.

Janet was cremated and buried on June 12, 2026, in an intimate ceremony with family and friends at the Russian River Cemetery on Low Gap Road in Ukiah. She is preceded in death by her parents Helen and Otto, her two sisters, Helen and Dorothy, as well as her daughter, Deborah Joan Dailey. She is lovingly remembered by her children, Robert Charles, Frank William, Helen Louisa and Catherine Ann Dailey, by her four grandchildren, Jessica, Angela, Tyler and Austin, and her 6 great grandchildren, Isabelle, Raine, Lily, Ella, Athena, and Jackson.

The family requests in lieu of flowers, please consider an honorable donation to one of Janet’s favorite charities: Union Gospel Mission Sacramento of Helping the Homeless or NRDC’S Work for the Environment.