Janie Eastland

Biography

Leila Jane Eastland, 58, of Homestead Nursing Home of Itasca died on Monday, January 16, at Providence Hospital in Waco. Janie had battled Parkinson’s disease for more than 13 years. Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, February 4, 2012, at Ridge Park Cemetery in Hillsboro with Pastor Bill Bryan officiating. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, February 3, 2012, at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors in Hillsboro. A reception will follow at the Hampton Inn on I-35 in Hillsboro following the service.

Janie was born on February 7, 1953, and was the youngest of the three children born to Herman and Martha Eastland. The family lived in Dallas, mostly in Highland Park, where Janie’s mother taught home economics at Highland Park Junior High and her father was a life insurance agent.

A brain injury suffered when Janie was 18 months old adversely affected her learning abilities. When she was 11, her parents began at home an intensive program designed to improve her neurological development. The program, devised by the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, included creeping and crawling and other exercises, chief among them “patterning,” which involved the manipulation of limbs and head in a rhythmic fashion, on the theory that such therapy would revive damaged neurological pathways.

As did her two brothers, Bill and Terry, Janie attended the Highland Park public schools. In 1974 she graduated from Highland Park High School. After high school, Janie spent two years at campuses in Pennsylvania and England run by the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential - during which time her ability to learn continued to improve.

Returning to Dallas in 1976, Janie lived with her parents. She took a job at the Highland Park Cafeteria on Knox Street, where she cleaned vegetables and helped with other food services. In 1990 she won the Carolyn Goodman Award, given annually to a part-time employee for outstanding service. Later she worked at Tom Thumb in the Highland Park Village.

Janie was known for her excellent needlework, winning awards at the Texas State Fair. She was a member of Grace Bible Church in Dallas. She was good-natured, spoke ill of no one, and made friends easily.

In 1994 Janie moved with her parents to their hometown, Hillsboro. Soon after her father died in 1998, she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. As her disease progressed, Janie was unable to live at home with her mother, so she moved to a group home in Marlin. In 2005, two years before her mother’s death, she moved again—to the nursing home in Itasca. There she won the affection of the nurses and others who cared for her.

Janie is survived by her brothers, Bill Eastland of Arlington and Terry Eastland and wife, Jill, of McLean, VA; her niece Katherine (daughter of Terry and Jill) of Tarrytown, NY; an uncle, Donald Eastland of Hillsboro; first cousins John Beavers of Spring, Sallie Lyons of Spring Branch, Linda McWhorter of Spring Branch, Tom Beavers of Houston, Dennis Eastland of McKinney, Marvin Eastland of Kingswood, Bobby Eastland of Willis, Donald (Bubba) Eastland of Hillsboro, Susan Nell Polansky of McKinney, Sarah Alice Eastland of McKinney, Daniel Eastland of Austin, Bob Bond of Houston, and Margaret Richmond of Greeley, CO.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Grace Bible Church, 11306 Inwood Road Dallas, TX 75229-3019.

Visitation

Friday February 3, 2012 , 6:00 - 8:00 P.M. at Marshall & Marshall Funeral Directors

Graveside Service

Saturday February 4, 2012 , 2:00 P.M. at Ridge Park Cemetery