Janice K. Dudgeon

The family of Janice Karol (Karch) Dudgeon, 85, of Zanesfield, Ohio, announces that on June 10, 2026, after facing cancer with strength and grace, Jan finally decided she’d had enough of earthly nonsense and peacefully exited her home outside Zanesfield and headed off on her next adventure. She was a beloved mother, granny, great‑granny, and the undisputed queen of “I’ll just fix it myself.”

Born October 1, 1940, in Van Buren, Ohio, and proud member of the class of 1958 of Van Buren High School, Jan spent her life proving that fear was optional, adventure was necessary, and that Country music stopped being good sometime around 1978. A volunteer EMT with the Zanesfield Fire and Rescue Department, she bravely responded to emergencies, though she maintained that raising four kids alone in the 1970s was far more dangerous.

Jan was a woman of many passions: PBR bull riding (the bulls were her favorite athletes), writing stories she was too shy to publish (but not too shy to read aloud to unsuspecting family and friends), and traveling. Items checked off her bucket list included hot air ballooning, white‑water rafting, and trips to Germany, Holland, and Puerto Rico and visiting every state in the contiguous U.S.—because why not.

Life didn’t always roll out the red carpet for her. Divorced in the early 1970s—back when that was still considered scandalous, she marched into the world of single motherhood with grit, humor, and a stubborn streak that could bend steel. Working at the only hardware and lumber store in Zanesfield, she learned enough home‑repair skills to make Bob Vila nervous. If something broke, she fixed it. If someone told her she couldn’t, she did it twice.

Jan adored Halloween and was known to dress up right alongside her kids, sometimes outshining them. At Christmas, she produced homemade candies and ornaments with the efficiency of a one‑woman North Pole workshop, usually involving her children whether they liked it or not.

She is survived by her son Eric Dudgeon (Kay) of Bellefontaine; daughter Dawn Dudgeon of Dayton; daughter Wendy Snook (John) of Gallipolis, WV; son Lance Dudgeon of Sidney; eight grandchildren; and eight great‑grandchildren who will forever miss her sass, her stories, and her ability to fix anything with a screwdriver and duct tape.

She was preceded in death by her daughter, Kelli Jo; her father, Morris Daniel Karch; her mother, Katherine Etta Semler Karch Lauer; her sister, Mana Jean “MJ” Karch Masten; and her beloved dog Ki‑ah, who is undoubtedly thrilled to see her again.

Her cremains will be interred at a private graveside service for the family provided by Wilson Funeral Home at Zanesfield Cemetery.

You are invited to share your own photos and memories in the online guestbook to help celebrate her extraordinary, stubborn, beautiful life.