WAKEFIELD, Mich. – Janice Mae Oberg, 77, of Wakefield, died unexpectedly on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.

   Janice, known to family and friends as Jan, was born on Dec. 4, 1948, in Crookston, Minnesota, to Talbert and Mabel Koppang. She was baptized and confirmed at Sand Hill Lutheran Church in rural Climax, where, at the age of four, she stood in front of the congregation and sang. At Climax Public School, she was an excellent student who sang in the choir, played in the band, performed in school plays, and was selected to the National Honor Society before graduating in 1966. Her summers were spent hoeing sugar beets and later working at the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service office in Crookston, and she saved what she earned to pay her own way she saved what she earned to pay her own way to college.

   In June 1966, she began at Moorhead State College, studying elementary education. In September 1969 she married Les Holmberg, and they made their home in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Minnetonka, Minnesota. In March 1972, Les was killed in a car accident. Jan was twenty-three.

   She later settled in Plymouth, where she met Brian Oberg. They were married outdoors on a beautiful sunny day, May 20, 1978, in Rockford, Minnesota. In the early 1980s, Brian and Jan both came to faith in Christ, and that faith governed the rest of their lives. In 1982 they moved to Brian's hometown of Wakefield.

   Together they owned and operated The Rug Merchant floor covering business until their retirement. They did not divide the work between them; they shared it. They sold carpet together and installed it together, on their knees, side by side, for years. That same partnership carried into their church. At Living Water Missionary Assembly in Ironwood, they taught Sunday school and worked with the children for many years, and when that church closed, they found a home at Cornerstone Church in Ramsay.

   Jan gave herself to Wakefield the way she gave herself to her work. She volunteered at the Wakefield Historical Museum and was part of the town's events, parades, and committees, first alongside Brian and, after his death in 2023, on her own.

   She was hardworking and strong, and she did not complain. A cancer survivor of nearly twenty years, she stayed active and involved while her body fought a long war, and she never made her own suffering anyone else's burden. 

   Above all, Jan was devoted to her family. She showed up for all of it, the large occasions and the small ones, and the people she loved never had to wonder whether she would be there. Her friends knew the same faithfulness, and that is how family and friends alike will remember her.

   Jan is survived by her daughters, Lynette (Fred) Schultz and Deanna (the late Travis) Valnes; her grandchildren, Joshua (Chelsea) Garrison, Selina Marquez, Boden (Taryn) Valnes, and Natalia Valnes; her great-grandchildren, Tyler, Olivia, Elijah, Elianna, Isaiah, Aliyah, Ezra, Ariella, and Nikolas; her brothers, Roger (Lois) Koppang and Miles (Kerry) Koppang; her sister-in-law, Ginny Knudtson; her niece, Tammy Duerr; her uncle, Allan Koppang; her aunts, Carol and Virginia Haugen; and many other nieces, nephews, and Koppang and Haugen cousins.

   She was preceded in death by her husband of nearly forty-five years, Brian; her first husband, Les Holmberg; her parents, Talbert and Mabel Koppang; her brother, Terry Koppang; and her son-in-law, Travis Valnes.

   "Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates" (Proverbs31:31).

   The family will greet relatives and friends on Saturday, Oct. 17, from 11 a.m. to noon at Cornerstone Church, N10344 Mill St., in Ramsay. A memorial service will follow at noon with the Rev. Todd Winkler officiating. A lunch will be served after the service. Interment will take place at a later date.

   Lakeside Memorial Chapel of Wakefield assisted the family with arrangements.