Janis Kay (Hayes) Roorda, 78, passed peacefully into the arms of God on October 16, 2025, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer, lovingly cared for by her faithful husband of 12 years, Bruce.
Janis was born on May 31, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan, to Kenneth M. and Evelyn B. (Losen) Hayes, the first of four children. Janis graduated from Trenton (Michigan) High School in 1965, earned her B.S.N. in 1969 from the University of Michigan. In 1975, she received her M.S.N. from Wayne State University, Detroit.
After many years in nursing and healthcare administration, she heard the call of God to ministry, graduating from Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, in 2012 with her Master of Divinity. From 2009-2020, Janis was a member of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church and pastored several churches in northwest Missouri. It was during this time she met and married Bruce Roorda, who has shared her life, and cancer journey with grace and humor. She retired from official ministry in December 2020, after serving Mound City UMC in Holt County for five years.
Throughout her life, Janis was engaged in caring ministries focused on growing Christians’ relationships to Christ. She recognized that the Body of Christ was more than the local congregation: it was the collection and interplay of various congregations and denominations, each bringing its own gifts. This was the seed for the Mound City churches to form The Shop, serving Holt County schools and communities together in Christ’s name.
Janis was preceded in death by her parents; parents-in-law Dorothy and Norman Roorda, and Althea and Steve Tobias; sisters-in-law Connie (Tobias) Bertram and Janelle (Clausen) Hayes; brother-in-law Michael Bolinger; nephews Nathan Bolinger and Matthew Bertram; and many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
She is survived by her husband, Bruce Roorda of the home; children Sarah Lynne (Bob) Parsons of Platte City, MO, and Stephen Joseph Tobias of Portland, Oregon and their father Stephen Carl Tobias of Bedford, TX; grandsons, Joshua David Stephens (St. Louis, MO) and Jared Michael Parsons (Platte City, MO); sisters Lynne Bolinger (Winona Lake, IN), Kristine (Steve) Amerson (Ventura, CA), and brother Kenneth (Kristin) Hayes (Charlotte, NC); one Aunt, Joan Losen (Richmond, VA), and many nieces, nephews, and their families.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Mound City (MO) United Methodist Church, or The Shop: c/o 312 East 7th Street, Mound City, MO, 64470.
