Janet Parrott Ivey

Janet Parrott Ivey met her Lord and Savior April 27, 2020 after zip lining through the rain forest on a motorcycle through multiple rings of fire. Her final words were “I told you this would be fun!”

From the beginning, Janet was determined to break all expectations thrust upon her. With two older sisters, her parents had expected Janet to be a bouncing baby boy. Her mother was famously quoted as saying “girls, girls, girls, another girl” on the way out of the operating room. She was named Janet Theresa, an homage to her father, John Thomas. The family planned to call her “JT”, but her sisters just called her “Stinky.”

She gained notoriety early when the Roanoke Rapids Daily Herald featured her getting her second curly hair permanent on her 1st birthday. She would go on to have hundreds more in her life. None of them took, a show of her dogged tenacity.

Janet was a lifelong trend-setter, the original hipster; she could frequently be heard saying “I did that before it was cool.” Some of her more controversial trends included a square wedding cake and a white house with a red front door.

Janet excelled in basically everything she ever attempted. Her many awards and accolades included, “Cleanest Kitchen During a Home Economics Final,” “Queen of Heritage High School Duties,” and “World’s Most Delicate Flower.”

Janet’s honesty could cut to the heart of your insecurity and force you to change your life or hide in shame for all eternity. Either way, she made the world a better place for the rest of us.

Janet was a world-class organizer, bringing order to any amount of chaos, an important quality in a lifelong teacher. She lived each day by a simple philosophy “for the sake of time, let’s just assume I’m always right.” Those that accepted this mantra learned from her, those that didn’t humbly accept her “I told you so’s.”

She was preceded in death by her husband James Willie Ivey, Jr.; her parents John Thomas and Rebecca Fisher Parrot; her sister Betsy Parrott Johnson; and, her grand-dog Gypsy Rose Lee. She was clear her first priority meet up in Heaven would be Gypsy.

She leaves behind two daughters, Kelly Elizabeth and Leslie Suzanne. Each absolutely perfect in every possible way. She made it her life’s mission to ensure neither ever doubted who was her favorite and worthy of all her love – it was most definitely Gypsy.

Janet had a wonderful sense of humor, with an infectious laugh. It was important to her that her obituary reflect that! However, her daughters want to seriously express how deeply she was loved and how immensely she will be missed.

In light of the current pandemic, Janet’s visitation and memorial will be conducted differently. The family will receive guests in their cars in the driveway of Clancy Strickland Wheeler Funeral Home in Wake Forest on Saturday, May 2, 2020, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The family will be recording the memorial service and releasing it via will via a private YouTube channel on Sunday, May 3, 2020. If you would like access to the memorial service video, please send an email request to JanetIveyMemorial@gmail.com.

Janet has requested that people make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in lieu of flowers.