Janet Conroy Maier
Oct 15, 1930 - March 29, 1999
Janet was a good friend to many in the Elkhound community. In her honor, we are dedicating a perpetual trophy to be won by the Best Bred by Exhibitor bitch at our Specialty.
She will be missed.
If you would like to add your tribute here, please send it to gledene@aol.com
On the morning of March 29, the Elkhound world lost a loyal friend to both Elkhound and Elkhounder, a student of the breed, an active member of both the Greater Cleveland Norwegian Elkhound Club (GCNEC) and the NEAA having served the latter as Corresponding Secretary and a decade later as a Director. Janet was a member of both the Canadian and British National Elkhound Clubs. Back in 1986 she joined the NECPV and has been as faithful as she could be considering the distance involved - actually hoping to attend our 2000 planning session in southern Virginia until snow prevented her travel. For her second NEAA Board meeting, the meeting minutes of October 23, 1982 read “Janet Maier had to return home due to the death of her husband [Louis].” Since then she and her son Bob have had to maintain all 22 acres of their home at the end of Maier Road at 156 W. Mowry Road, Monaca, PA. Of course that included about a dozen dogs with litters from time to time. Janet has served as Specialty Chair for GCNEC for several years. She began breeding and showing Elkhounds in 1970 using the kennel name Polestar. She handled her own dogs until recently when arthritis became too severe. I remember the time at the Boston National Specialty (1982), the judge instructed her to go “up and back” and she did a perfect triangle. The judge repeated her instructions and again Janet absentmindedly did the triangle. The third time was a perfect “up and back”. Fortunately she had a good sense of humor. One time she told me that she would put a picture on the cover of the ‘Voice of the Vikings’, but she doubted that I would print the subtitle that she wanted. It was “Happy, the B _ _ _ _ _ D, aka CH Polestar’s Jet Stream”. Well it was printed that way but in the Editor’s Scoopings I thanked her for the cover with her “Happy, the B E L O V E D. Four years ago before undergoing a serious operation, she felt she had to cut back on the number of dogs. She had a pup which she wanted to go to a show home. Ruth and I decided we would buy the pup from her. She would not have it that way and instead gave Karla to us. Because of her expertise, Janet was asked to judge Sweepstakes – for NECPV it was in 1983. We and Janet attended the Norwegian Elkhound Club of Canada’s Specialty held in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of the CKC at Toronto in 1988. After the show I was leading our dogs back to the car with Ruth preceding me. When Ruth started loading the dogs she had with her into the car, I released ‘D-D’ to run ahead to the car. When I arrived at the car, D-D’s crate was empty and Ruth had not seen her. I kicked myself for being so sure that D-D would go to the car. I went from the parking lot into the adjoining city for several blocks while calling for her. I returned empty handed. Finally Janet, who was assisting in the hunt suggested, “Maybe she is in another crate”. Sure enough there was a crate with two dogs. When it came to Elkhounds, we loved to “pick her brains.” Janet was a true friend and we miss her. RKN
I met Janet over twenty years ago when I answered an ad she had for stud service to her original dog, Ch Ivar of Pitch Road. I loved Tortasens Bjonn and a double grandson of his seemed too good to be true. It was the beginning of a long period of working together in breeding Elkhounds and as friends. She was a person that could always be relied upon to be in your corner. Judith Cooke