Janou H. Walcutt

Jeanne (Janou) Helene Walcutt, a resident of Colville Health and Rehab of Cascadia, passed away peacefully on April 15th, 2024, just one month prior to her 107th birthday. She was active and in good health until her final few days.

Janou was born May 20th 1917, in Lyon, France, where she grew up with her parents, Paul and Lucie Faucon, and six siblings: Charles, Emmanuel, Paula, Louis, Sylvestre, and Régine. She graduated from Lyon University and also studied art in Lyon with Dulac, in Paris at Grande Chaumiere, and in New York.

During WWII, when men in Lyon were being mobilized and teachers were scarce, Janou was drafted by the French Office of Education to becoe Director of a boys' elementary school. She was expected to lead a staff of seven teachers and to teach her own class of 40 nine-year-old boys, even as air raid sirens sent them all running to hide in the basement. She was just 22 years old and had not yet graduated from university; she had no experience as an educator. When she arrived for her first day, the departing Director met her at the door, handed her a set of keys, then immediately departed for the Front. As Janou remembered it, "I faced this responsibility with tremendous apprehension and concern…I just tried to do my best to cope."

After WWII ended, Janou worked in Paris for the United States Information Services (part of the State Department) for 13 years. She worked as a reference librarian before being promoted to Director of the Benjamin Franklin Library in Paris (a branch of the American Library in Paris). Her first trip to the U.S. was to attend a USIS training in Washington D.C., where she met with President Truman and was asked to provide advice on library issues.

As part of Janou's duties as Library Director, she organized seminars for French professors and graduate students. For one such seminar, she invited Charles (Bill) Walcutt to give a lecture on Hemingway. Bill was a Fulbright scholar, writer, and professor from New York state. Bill and Janou fell in love and were later married. As Janou described it, "After the lecture, dinner, and dance, we walked in the garden exchanging ideas. He was vital, vibrant, impulsive. We talked all night and laughed…I don't know how the magic happened so fast. We fell in love right then. Later, Bill wrote to a friend, "I married a dazzling and talented Frenchwoman whom I met in Paris. Everybody loves her, and we have a great life."

Janou and Bill had a long and happy marriage. They divided their time between Great Neck, NY; Lake Worth, FL, and France. Janou kept in close contact with her family, especially her beloved younger sister Régine. Janou continued to work as an artist, writer, and teacher of French and French Literature at Queens College. She was also an avid tennis player until well into her 90s. Her husband Bill died of ALS in 1989. She wrote of him, "I had a most fascinating, vibrant, loving companion for 27 years, and I remained with him in this country although my whole family lives in France."

Janou moved to Colville, WA in 2015 to be near her niece, Judie Ward. Judie, together with her children, Sandy and Rick Moore, helped care for Janou in her final years. Janou, Judie, Sandy, and Rick are forever grateful to the kind, loving staff at Pinewood Terrace/Colville Health and Rehab of Cascadia, for the skillfull and compassionate care they provided during Janou's nine-year stay at the facility.

Janou is survived by her sister, Régine Bessou, and nine nephews and nieces: Marc, Emmanuel, Jacques, Patrick, Lise, Danièle, Lila, Charles-Edouard, and Patricia, all of whom live in France. She is also survived by grandniece Sandy Moore of Colville, WA and Sandy's husband Rick. She is predeceased by her husband Charles Child (Bill) Walcutt, her brothers Charles, Emmanuel, Louis, and André (Sylvestre), her sister Paula, her niece Judie Ward, and her longtime friend and companion Morris Hertzog.

Janou will be buried alongside her husband, Bill, at All Saints Church Cemetery in Great Neck, Long Island, New York. A graveside memorial will be held at 11:00 am, May 20th, 2024, on what would have been her 107th birthday.

Donations in Janou's memory may be made to the Libraries of Stevens County Foundation (loscfoundation.org).