Flag Lowering for Janet Strauss

The University of Nebraska at Omaha flag will be lowered on Tuesday, Sept. 6, in memory of long-time UNO supporter and advocate Janet Strauss.

Strauss, who along with her late husband Willis are the namesakes of the Strauss Performing Arts Center, passed away on Aug. 22, 2022 at the age of 99.

Dedicated in 1986, the Willis A. and Janet S. Strauss Performing Arts Center opened in 1973 following a four-year construction period that began with approval of funds by the Nebraska legislature in 1969.

It was a year prior, in 1968, that UNO formally joined the University of Nebraska System with Willis, CEO of Northern Natural Gas, and Janet as advocates for the merger that would go on to not just save Omaha University, but begin an era of decades-long growth for the university.

In addition to the political weight carried by the Strausses, their financial support was integral to the building of UNO’s first stand-alone building dedicated to music and the performing arts. As part of the 1986 dedication, the Strauss Performing Arts Center’s iconic Casavant pipe organ was installed.

It wasn’t until 2019, 50 years after its initial funding, that the building would “become whole” as the initial appropriation was enough to cover Phase I, but not a proposed Phase II.

Both Janet and Willis Strauss would regularly attend performances in the building named in their honor. They also stayed engaged with the university as donors and supporters in the years following the dedication of the Performing Arts Center.

Janet was also a key figure in support of the arts throughout the Omaha area including being a driving force, along with Willis, behind the redevelopment of downtown Omaha from the 1970s until the 2000s, including spaces like the Orpheum Theater and Joslyn Art Museum.

Janet was preceded in death by Willis Strauss, who passed away in 2004, at the age of 82, following a bout with cancer. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Fredrick and Madge Schaefer.

She is survived by her daughters, Elizabeth Ann Hosford (Don) and Susan Lebens (Mike); grandchildren, Colin Lebens (Missy), Lena Munger (Mike), Emily Young (Cameron), and Sarah Hosford; great-grandchildren, George and Jeffery Lebens, Leah, Theodore, and Elayne Munger, Parks, Jane, and Nell Young and Willow Hosford.

The thoughts and condolences of the university community are with Janet’s loved ones during this time.