Alderton, Janice Ann (1935-2016)
ALDERTON, PETERSON, SIMM, RADKE, CUVELIER, MITSDARFFER, ZOLKIEWICZ
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 2/25/2016 at 09:20:09
Janice Ann Alderton
December 2, 1935 - February 8, 2016Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Janice was born on December 2, 1935, in Cherokee and died on February 8, 2016, in Phoenix, Arizona, from congestive heart failure. A celebration of her life be held Friday, February 19, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake with the Rev. Charles Valenti-Hein presiding. Visitation with the family will be Friday, February 19, 2016, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Kings Pointe in Storm Lake.
Janice, a daughter of Carl G Peterson, Jr., and Ann Isabel (Simm) Peterson, graduated from Storm Lake Community High School in 1954.
On April 5, 1959, she married Rodrick James Alderton, at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church in Storm Lake. She and Rod lived in Whittier, California; Englewood, Colorado, and Calabasas, California, before moving back to Storm Lake in 1968 where she remained for the most part until her death. In more recent years, however, she spent a great deal of her time in Phoenix, Arizona, living with her son, Mark.
Between 1959 and 1970, Jan and Rod adopted eight children. From 1964 to 1974, they did emergency foster home services, sharing their home with many children. They, also, participated in "Friendly Town," hosting children from Des Moines every summer for many years, and they hosted many foreign exchange students from around the world. Moreover, Jan ran an in-home day care center for twenty-one years.
A Girl Scout and a Boy Scout leader for many kids in California and Storm Lake, she began while still in high school. Indeed, her first Cub Scouts were her brothers and their classmates. Throughout the years, she took her troop on many rugged camp outs, and they won many awards for their activities and achievements. For her efforts, she was recognized as the first female Boy Scout Troop leader in the nation. She remained active in scouting until the 1980s.
A widow at 43, she raised her children alone for the most part. She was finally able to resume the degree work she had done at the University of Iowa, the University of Colorado, and the University of California, Long Beach, by attending Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. After completing her degree in Mass Communications and Political Science in 1986, she started working in the areas of Civil Rights and Fair Housing for both the State of Iowa and the City of Cedar Rapids, positions she held for many years.
On May 29, 1993, at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church, Jan married Gerald Pallesen, of Marcus, another lover of scouting, Uncle Sam, and parades. They, however, later divorced.
Besides scouting, Jan, actively, participated in the Buena Vista Community Theatre, wrote feature articles for the Advertising Guide and the BVU Tack, was elected to and served on the Storm Lake City Council, had a radio program "Scout News," became curator of Santa's Castle, organized scout day camps and camping weekends, taught VBS crafts and Sunday School, and cooked many meals for a wide variety of organizations and groups.
A prolific afghan maker, Jan knitted one (or two) for everyone she knew and donated many others to the many charitable auctions in the area. Throughout, she developed a unique process for creating beautiful plaid afghans by using at least eight different yarns at a time, all located at different places on the afghan.
Throughout the years she received many awards and honors. Among them were some of the highest awards given to adult volunteers for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts respectively: the Silver Beaver in 1974 (BSA), the "Thanks Badge" in 1975 (GSA), the Distinguished Service Award in 1985 (the Storm Lake Jaycees), and in 1973, she was the Runner-Up in the Storm Lake Centennial Queen contest (nominated by the City Beautiful Toastmistress Club).
Jan is survived by seven children: Anne (Dave) Radke, of Onawa, Frank (Nancy Kunz), of Storm Lake, Nancy, of Des Moines, Mark (Rick Sharp), of Phoenix, Arizona, Lynn (Dean) Cuvelier, of Cedar Falls, Dan (Lisa), of Altadena, California, and Ben, of Las Vegas; five brothers: Lee (Kay), of Yakima, Washington, Bill (Diana), of Iowa City, Jim, of Tauranga, New Zealand, and Rick (Carol) and Paul, both of Storm Lake; twelve grandchildren: Lanna Radke, and Erhren (Matt) Mitsdarffer, both of Kansas City, Justin Zolkiewicz, of Des Moines and Alicia Zolkiewicz, of Ankeny, Sarah Alderton, of Chicago, George Alderton, of Chandler, Katie Alderton, of Mesa, Jessica, Justine, and Jennifer Cuvelier, of Cedar Falls, and Liberty and Griffin Alderton, of Altadena; and six great-grandchildren; as well as one special family friend, a foreign exchange student from 1976-77, Hugo Madsen, "The Great Dane," from Denmark, who has returned to visit and still keeps in close contact with the family.
She was preceded in death by one son, John (2012); a grandson, Jack (2013); her husband, Rod (1978); her father, Carl (1976); and her mother, Ann (2013).
It has been said that life is two dates and a dash. Jan made the most of her dash.
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