Mrs. Ann Hoyt Janosik

Ann Hoyt Janosik, 67, of West Columbia, died on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. Born in Washington, DC, on May 31, 1958, she was a daughter of the late Donald and Betty Hoyt. Ann’s early life was marked by the beginning of a life-long passion for music. At the age of five, she began singing in the Church of the Pilgrims extensive music program. She sang in the children’s choirs, youth choir, and eventually joined the adult choir at the age of 14, where she also sang various solos. Ann attended Washington and Lee High School, where she loved singing in the demanding Madrigals program and being part of school programs such as My Fair Lady. When she graduated in 1976 as a Washington and Lee valedictorian, Ann chose to attend William and Mary College as a music and sociology double major. She studied voice performance under Frances Breeze and was active in both the music and theater departments. Ann performed in college plays and musicals (Carousel, The Constant Wife, and Rhiannon), and in her senior year worked as the vocal director for the William and Mary Sincronifon production of Iolanthe. Most notably, she also starred in the Sincronifon production of H.M.S. Pinafore in 1978 as Josephine - a role which she enjoyed remembering for many years to come. Although Ann did not know it until later, a young college graduate named Daniel Janosik came to see that performance and was entranced by the lovely soprano! After graduating in 1980, Ann worked in a bank and as a school teacher while attending Tabernacle Church in Norfolk. She met her future husband, Daniel, at a retreat at the Triple R Ranch - a ministry of Tabernacle - later that year. They married in 1982, then moved to Columbia, SC, in 1985 so that Daniel could pursue a seminary degree at Columbia Bible College. Ann worked at CBC (later CIU) as an administrator as she and Daniel trained in preparation to become missionaries once he completed his degree. In 1989, however, their lives took an unexpected turn as the missions team dissolved and, a few months later, Ann found out that she was pregnant with a long-hoped-for baby. Deciding that the Lord was leading them away from foreign missions and into a new season of ministry, Daniel took a job at Ben Lippen High School and Ann stayed home to raise their daughter, Anna Katarina. A few years later, Ann began to work part-time on a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) degree in the new program at CIU. She graduated with her Master’s of TEFL in 1994, and began working at the English Programs for Internationals (EPI) at the University of South Carolina later that year. Ann loved her students, and often commented that her passion for international missions was fulfilled in this work. She became an expert in pronunciation - a specialization in which she drew heavily upon her musical training in sound and voice - and was highly renowned in her field for her creative and interactive workshops. Ann taught part-time and full-time at EPI for nearly 30 years, during which time she presented at several national TESOL conferences. By the time she retired in 2023, she had also written ESL curriculum, served on accreditation committees, and shared her innovative pronunciation techniques on multiple special projects - her favorite being the annual summer workshops she taught for non-native English teachers. Throughout the years at EPI, Ann also undertook the special role of homeschooling her daughter, Anna. She brought the same dedication and creativity to her teaching at home as she did to her classes at EPI. After Anna’s graduation, Ann transitioned to a full-time role at EPI and worked there another fourteen years. In 2023, Ann took early retirement so that she could begin the job she had looked forward to the most: being a full-time grandmother to her three grandchildren. She loved being able to come over weekly for “Nana day,” where she held tea-parties, played games, led detailed crafts, and taught Bible lessons to her grandchildren. Ann also was able to devote more time to her long-time hobbies of gardening and card-making, as well as spend time with her friends and participate in the ministries at First Presbyterian Church. Ann was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in December 2024. She bravely endured twelve rounds of chemo and months of radiation, and rejoiced when remission seemed to have been reached the following summer. In the late autumn of 2025, however, tests revealed that the cancer had returned and was rapidly metastasizing. In all of her life and among her many achievements, Ann always placed her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, above everything else. When she was interviewed by the William and Mary school paper (The Flat Hat) in 1980, the interviewer asked her how she was going to keep up with all her dreams of singing and working. Ann replied, "Everything I do is seeking to serve Him. My faith and the constancy of my religion are my roots." She fulfilled this faithfully throughout all of her life, with humility and grace seeking to serve others and study the Scriptures so that she could continue to grow in her faith. When Ann was undergoing chemotherapy, she recorded this prayer: “Grant that I might run to perfectly embrace Your will for my life each day, knowing that Your love and purposes for me are perfect.” We therefore rejoice that Ann is with her Saviour, even though we grieve her absence. She is survived by her husband, Dr. Daniel J. Janosik, Jr.; daughter, Anna Janosik Cooke (David); grandchildren, Peter Cooke, Elizabeth Cooke, Laura Cooke and William Cooke; as well as her brother, Dr. Clifton Hoyt. In addition to her mother and father, she was preceded in death by her sister, Cynthia Lee Hoyt. The service for Ann will be held at 2 o’clock, Saturday, January 10th, in the Family Life Center of First Presbyterian Church with Drs. David Lauten, Mark Ross and Neil Stewart officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in Jackson Hall of the Church. Burial in the churchyard will be private. Shives Funeral Home, Trenholm Road Chapel, is assisting the family. Memorials may be made to First Presbyterian Church Missions Fund at www.firstprescolumbia.org, or to the American Cancer Society at donate@cancer.org.

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Mrs. Ann Hoyt Janosik

May 31, 1958 - December 17, 2025