New Lenox Family Mourns Their 'Nellie,' Beloved Wife And Mom Of 4

Find out what's happening in New Lenoxwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We were so entrenched in the heartache in all that was going on, and doing the hard work of living life, that we just didn’t always see it.”

Following her death, Portwood speaks of his wife with pride and a profound sense of calm, echoing the composure with which she faced it all. After her initial lung cancer diagnosis, they learned in May 2021 it had spread to her brain. Within a week, she underwent brain surgery, Portwood said, where they removed the largest tumor they could, though others remained. Still, she stayed grounded and unshaken, Portwood said.

“Several rounds of chemo, radiation,” he said, “all of which, she never complained. She was such a humble servant. She really never complained, that was pretty amazing.”

Prior to diagnosis, Janelle was a dental hygienist in Frankfort, Mokena and New Lenox for 21 years. She sought to be active whenever possible, whether hiking, swimming or just relishing time outdoors, Portwood said.

“She really loved adventure,” he said. “She loved to swim, to hike, those were some of our favorite things to do. Just to be outside, doing something together. She was very brave and daring in that regard.”

As the New Lenox community mourns one of its own, he learns more about what his wife meant to so many.

“She was very kind, humble,” he said. “What I keep hearing is, she was a good listener. … she had this keen ability to be such a good listener, yet she was still able to speak truth to people in such a kind way.”

Perhaps it was that same trait in her that left a teenaged Portwood slightly flustered, but ever undaunted in his pursuit of her. She was kind, even if ever-aware of his feelings for her.

‘She was so striking’

As Frankfort natives and freshmen at Lincoln-Way East High School, both Mike and Janelle played the saxophone. They met at band practice the summer of 1991, and as some might say, that was “it” for Portwood.

He became a friend to her, though he always wanted more.

“I still remember the first time I saw her, because she was so striking,” he said. In fact, they’d later return to that same spot, long after they had left the school and with years of marriage between them.

“We were always good friends in high school,” he told Patch, laughing. “She just wasn’t interested.”

Though glossing over them quickly in an interview, Portwood says the years of high school would only foster a deeper affection for her. He grew more determined with each year. When senior year started, he knew he had to make a pretty big move if he hoped to shift out of the “friend zone.”

“I happened to see her schedule,” he said. “I convinced the counselor to change my schedule around, so we had the exact same schedules senior year.”
Click Here:

When comparing their schedules later and remarking on their similarity, Janelle was shocked and Portwood played coy.

“Senior year, we had every period together, every day,,” he said.

He knows how it sounds, he jokes, but he wasn’t about to let this one get away.

“Some people say ‘stalker,'” he said, chuckling. “I always like to phrase it a little more positively.”

His plan worked. Their romance began senior year, with prom as their first date.

Once dating, they shared high hopes for their future. Marriage was discussed almost immediately after graduation. Portwood attended Illinois Wesleyan University, where he studied education. Janelle attended Joliet Junior College, before moving on to study at New Tribes Bible Institute. She then went on to complete an education in dental hygiene at Parkland College. She would later also teach it at Prairie State College.

Portwood graduated college in May 1999; they were married in August of that year.

Portwood taught sixth grade for 10 years, before moving into various school administration roles, where he’s remained, currently working as an assistant superintendent in Homer District 33C.

The two had four sons—James (19), Jack (17), Judd (15) and Judah (12)—and Janelle relished her time as a stay-at-home mom until all four were attending school, Portwood said. She went on to work as a dental hygienist, also always taking great pride in her role as a mother.

“She was a super-devoted mother,” Portwood said.”She was very intelligent, and such a hard worker. She worked so hard for her boys.”

‘This was bizarre’

They couldn’t have seen her first diagnosis coming, Portwood said.

“She was the healthiest, strongest, the picture of perfect health,” he said. “Never smoked. She was super-passionate about nutrition, and clean eating. So that’s why this was bizarre.”

Throughout her battle, Janelle held tight to her faith. A community group leader at Mosaic Church in Joliet, Portwood said she leaned into the Bible as a source of comfort and guidance.

“The way that she kept her head screwed on straight, her head clear, was her unswerving faith in Jesus Christ,” Portwood said.

Portwood turned to social media to share what was in her heart and thoughts. She did so with great intention, Portwood said.

“She chose to chronicle her experience on Facebook—when she could write—for the first year and a half, and I picked it up after that,” Portwood said. “… God was very clear to us, that this was a painful gift that we were given, and that it was about the ministry of reconciliation—God wanted to use her and her story to draw people to him.”

In Jan. 2022, as she was just beginning to “feel normal,” after aggressive treatment cycles, she was dealt delayed onset inflammation to her brain, the result of radiation.

“In a matter of 10 days in May (2022), right through Memorial Day, she lost her ability to use her hands, walk, to speak clearly,” Portwood said.

Their church family held them up, he said, encircling the family in support and prayer. A GoFundMe was started to support her sons and family. Her ability to type slipped away, with Portwood instead taking to the keyboard.

As recently as September 2023, an MRI revealed more tumors had grown in or near her cerebellum. Later that month, they learned it had progressed in her lungs, liver, pancreas and adrenal glands, as well.

As they stared down her mortality together, they talked openly of where they were in the moment, and what was to come.

“We required so much more face-to-face time over the last two years, to just lay together and flush our truths out,” Portwood said. “It was kind of a spiritual boot camp for me, about learning to trust God with really hard things.

“Three things were really important through the journey,” Portwood said. “‘Lamenting’: sharing our sadness with God. ‘Thanksgiving’—there’s a lot to be thankful for. I continue to try to give thanks—this is so difficult because of the depth of the love we experienced.

“And ‘surrender’—we either believe what we believe, or we don’t. Either God is real, or he’s not. And if he is, we have to surrender. That serenity has kept us from diving too deep.

“We had to go through that process over and over and over again. I continue to have to do it.”

“Music was really powerful for her,” Portwood said. “I needed truth in the way of sermons and scripture. She really appreciated truth in the way of worship music—she would have it playing all day, all night.”

Though quietly composed in speaking about her, his grief comes in spurts.

“Sometimes I can talk,” he said, “and sometimes I can’t breathe.”

“These mornings waking up, and she’s not in bed, and her counter doesn’t have all her things on it, and I don’t hear her walker moving down the hallway … it’s really hard.

“I think I’m just touching my toe in the water of the 101 reminders that I’m going to have to find around the house and go through … All the new ‘firsts’—there’s going to be a lot of those.”

Deeply linked since he indefatigably pursued her decades earlier, life without her will be an adjustment.

“… For that reason,” he said. “It feels like a big hole.”

Janelle, “Nel,” “Nellie” Portwood is survived by husband Mike and their four sons—James (19), Jack (17), Judd (15) and Judah (12). She is also survived by her mother June Bernero, and older sisters Jackie Bernero, Janine (Mark) Weber and JoyAnn (Daniel) Brake.

Visitation will be Friday, Nov. 17, from 3 to 8 p.m. at Kurtz Memorial Chapel, 65 Old Frankfort Way, Frankfort. Funeral service is Saturday, Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. at Mosaic Church, 191 S. Larkin Ave.

Family will bury her Saturday, Nov. 18, a half-mile from her childhood home. Her obituary is available online.

Reflecting on her legacy, Portwood still finds himself reeling at times.

“It’s still so surreal and inconceivable,” he said. “Not in a million years, would we thought that this would happen. … We couldn’t have imagined having gone through it.”

There are lessons to be gleaned from their story, he said.

“I think it’s a balance of God’s goodness and sovereignty … stay low and stay humble,” he said. “And really just be sure to number your days. We never would have thought in a million years that she’d be gone at 46.”

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.