Janet Van Fleet Pinto

Janet Van Fleet Pinto returned to her heavenly home on December 29^th, after a difficult battle with Parkinson’s Disease & Dementia.  We are so thankful she is now happy and free of pain and suffering. 

On August 13, 1940, a darling baby girl came into this world and made it a much more beautiful place.  Year after year, she shared her light and love, and brought joy to all those that were lucky enough to be around her.  Janet was born to Horace (Hod) Emerson Van Fleet Jr & June Grow of Farmington, Utah.  She was the middle child between two wonderful brothers, Paul Van Fleet (passed away in 1975) & Scott Van Fleet from Kaysville, Utah.  She spent her childhood playing sports with her neighbor friends and riding her horse Ribbon down at her family’s dairy farm in West Farmington. Her responsibility at the farm was to ride the “Derrick Horse” Jerry to lift the bales of hay up into the barn loft.  She talked about riding her horse from her home down to the farm, across what is now the I-15 freeway.  As a teenager, she enjoyed working at the Lagoon swimming pool.  She grew up right across the street from the Farmington Rock Church (home of the 1^st LDS primary) & often walked down “Lagoon Lane” to the back gate to enjoy hours wandering around the amusement park.  She attended Davis County schools & was proud to be a Davis High Dart, graduating in 1958.  In high school, she was involved in Senior Class Committee & Pro-Schola.  She always called Farmington her home & was honored to be part of the Farmington Van Fleet family legacy, including the Van Fleet Rose Garden & the Van Fleet (Rock) Hotel.

She met Anthony Vincent Pinto while working at HAFB, as he was a pharmacist in the Air Force. In April 1969, they were married & raised 3 children together, Doug (passed away in 1995), Brian & Jennifer.  She was an incredible mother, always loving & supportive, but also teaching her children to be responsible & committed to honorable principles.  Janet worked as a secretary at Horizon Electric, but made it a point to be home when her children were home from school. 

Janet was an incredibly devoted and loving grandmother to Josh Pinto, Breanne Fretz & Justice Schofield.  She served them endlessly & helped with anything from schoolwork to scouting merit badges, and everything in between.  They shared many fun adventures & trips together and they always knew she cared deeply about them. 

Throughout her life, she was known for her amazing flower & vegetable gardens.  Janet was a hard worker in everything she did.  She could always be found outside playing in the dirt & loved sharing her knowledge & expertise with others as well.  Janet was very athletic and participated in church & community sports, including softball and basketball.  She loved the outdoors and spent many weekends in Lava Hot Springs at her mountain property with her kids and grandkids.  Janet was well-known for her candy making skills.  At Christmas, we all looked forward to her delicious fudge, English toffee, caramels, suckers & hard tack candy.  Mom’s highest priority was her family & she used her natural creativity & organizing abilities to plan memorable family parties & reunions, complete with gift-stealing bingo & water balloon volleyball.   

She was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  She served in many callings, especially with the children & youth, where she created lasting bonds.  Those she served never forgot her & continued to stop by her home with treats or gifts as they grew older.  Her faith in Jesus Christ was shown by her kind and loving example of selfless compassion.  She could always be found taking dinners to others or jumping in to serve wherever needed.  Her compassionate nature inspired her to think of others before herself & give everyone the benefit of the doubt.

Janet always had many friends, because of her fun outgoing personality and her genuine kind heart. In recent years, she enjoyed spending time laughing with her friends while attending musicals at Centerpointe Theatre and playing dominoes.  Her quick-witted sense of humor always kept things light and made others chuckle.

Janet will always be remembered as a devoted and fun-loving wife, mother, grandmother & friend.  She was a bright light in this world & will be so very missed by all who had the opportunity to know her.

We are incredibly thankful for all of the kind family and friends that have supported mom and her family during the last few years as her health declined.  We’d like to thank Melanie Oliver GNP & the Cottage staff at Legacy House Bountiful for the unending love and compassion they showed to her.

Janet is loved and survived by her brother Scott Van Fleet, son Brian Pinto, daughter Jennifer Pinto & grandchildren.  She is preceded in death by her husband Anthony Vincent Pinto, son Lester Douglas Pinto, brother Paul Van Fleet & her loving parents.

Funeral services will be held at Russon Mortuary located at 1941 North Main Street in Farmington, Utah on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 11:00 AM. A viewing will be held at the mortuary on Saturday before the services, from 9:45 to 10:45 AM.  Interment will be at Farmington Cemetery.  Online guest book at www.russonmortuary.com 

For those unable to attend in person, services will be streamed live on the Russon Mortuary & Crematory Facebook page and on this obituary page below. Livestream will usually begin 10-15 minutes prior to the service.

If you’re interested in helping others with Parkinson’s disease, please consider making a donation on behalf of Janet at the following link: https://secure3.convio.net/prkorg/site/Donation2?10243.donation=form1&df_id=10243&mfc_pref=T or go to www.parkinson.org