Author: Makayla Milam

Richard Janaro became a member of People’s Temple Church in the summer of 1971 (RYMUR Serial 1217-7). Richard and his wife, Claire Janaro, were persuaded to move to Redwood Valley, where members of Peoples Temple lived together as a close-knit community, by their friends Phyllis and Eugene Chaikin who had already moved in. Although Richard’s wife was apprehensive about moving permanently at first, when the Temple asked the Janaros if they would run the Ranch, the couple said yes, and officially decided to integrate into the Peoples Temple community (Beck). 

The Ranch,  a facility formerly known as “Happy Acres” that was licensed for the care of 14 developmentally disabled adults, was a property with a main house, small residential buildings, an apple orchard, walnut trees, and 40 acres of grapes. Richard Janaro and his wife were mainly responsible for caring for the Ranch’s clients. During the day the clients would complete work projects for minimum wage or participate in recreational activities, depending on their skill sets and needs. In the evening, independent living classes were provided for clients, and eventually, some clients began transferring from the Ranch to a sheltered living facility. This was made possible when, in 1976, The Ranch was given the Independent Living Skills Grant, and a psychologist began working with The Ranch to supervise moving clients into the sheltered living facility and to teach the Janaros and others that worked on The Ranch techniques regarding behavior modification in order to facilitate more successful interactions with clients (Beck). 

On the Ranch, Richard Janaro was mostly in charge of day-to-day operations and organizational aspects (Beck). The purpose of the ranch was, ultimately, to fund the endeavors of Peoples Temple, and Richard was in charge of making sure it kept running as intended (RYMUR Serial 1217-7). However, Richard wasn’t just a businessman. Workers on the Ranch, like ex-Temple member Don Beck, recount fond memories of Richard, like watching him get excited to “take the guys out” when he would drive The Ranch’s clients to restaurants in the surrounding area of Ukiah for all-you-can-eat pepperoni pizza (Beck). 

Even as The Ranch remained successful, the attention of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple zeroed in on Jonestown. After 6 years of running The Ranch, the Janaros began to relocate to Guyana. Richard Janaro arrived in Guyana in September of 1977, after his son, Daren Richard, and daughter, Mauri K., had moved to Jonestown earlier that year during the summer. In Guyana, the skillset Richard had demonstrated success with while running the business-oriented end of The Ranch was put to use by assigning him to the Georgetown camp giving him a job intended to ensure the success of the agricultural project in Jonestown. Richard was in charge of maintaining public relations with suppliers in the area in order to keep providing for the agriculture project. Later, Janaro was assigned a different project: becoming a business agent for the “Albatross III”, a boat that traveled between Georgetown and Trinidad in order to transport supplies. The “Albatross” began making trips in May of 1978 and was still transporting supplies at the time of the Jonestown Massacre (RYMUR Serial 1217-7). In fact, on November 18, 1978, when Congressman Ryan’s plane touched down in Guyana, the “Albatross” was on its way to Trinidad carrying Richard and three other Temple members: Charles Touchette, Helen Swinney, and Philip Blakey (RYMUR Serial 389). All four men, Richard Janaro included, escaped Jonestown and survived the massacres due to the fact that they were at sea at the time when Congressman Ryan arrived in Jonestown. Claire Janaro also escaped and survived, however, all three of their children, Darren, Mauri, and Marvin, died as victims of the Jonestown massacre. 

The Ranch was forced to close after the events of November 18, 1978, and Claire and Richard moved back to Los Angles in the United States (Beck). Those who spent time with the Janaros during this time said Claire and Richard were caring and provided other survivors with a nurturing connection. After many years of helping other survivors of Jonestown with his wife, in 2003, Richard Janaro died at the age of 83 after a long battle with illness. Richard was described as a quiet but supportive and helpful man with an abundance of selflessness (Beck). 

Beck, Don. “Remembrances: Claire and Richard Janaro & The Ranch”. Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple, San Diego State University, Oct. 2020. https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=102522