Dorothy Janssen 1939-2022

JANSSEN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 7/3/2024 at 19:43:01

Dorothy Janssen
(May 20, 1939 - March 22, 2022)

Dorothy Janssen – age 82 of Pomeroy, passed away Tuesday, March 22nd at Brookhaven Nursing & Rehab, Carrollton, TX after a brief illness. Dorothy (aka Dot as she was known to her close family/friends) was born in 1939 at home in Rutherford County, N.C. to Willis Odell and Mary Sue Philbeck; they were textile mill workers at Burlington Industries. She grew up in Caroleen, NC with 4 sisters (Frances, Doris, Brenda, Phyllis) and 2 brothers (Bobby and Gerald). She attended Caroleen Elementary and TRI High School. She was a very good student and played basketball all 4 years of high school. She made All Conference 3 years as a top scorer and managed to score 63 points in a single game, her personal best! Dorothy sang with her family and her love of music came from her family roots in gospel music. Dorothy’s ambition was to be a nurse or a beautician, but her parents couldn’t afford for her to go to college, so after high school, Dorothy went to Florida to babysit her niece, not knowing that this is where she would meet her future husband. She married Wilbert on a Saturday afternoon - February 7, 1959 at the All Saints Chapel, located on the Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida where Wilbert was stationed at the time. For their honeymoon they traveled to the oldest city in the U.S., St. Augustine, Florida. There they drank from the Fountain of Youth and toured many sites around the city.
They returned to Wilbert’s hometown of Clare, Iowa where they began farming. In 1963 they moved to a rural farm near Palmer, Iowa and then in 1966 they moved in to the town of Palmer. They would live there only one year, before moving to a farm just outside of Fonda on Highway 7 in 1967. While living near Fonda, Dorothy worked at the Fonda Care Center as a nurse’s aid. In 1968 they moved to farm in Jolley, Iowa. They would settle down and raise their family in this location for the next 16 years. In 1984 Dorothy and Wilbert retired from farming and moved to the town of Pomeroy, Iowa. Retiring from farming, did not mean Dorothy would retire completely. Dorothy worked at Casey’s in Pomeroy, making pizzas for 11 years until a back injury and subsequent back surgery prevented her from working any longer. Wilbert and Dorothy enjoyed their retirement years, travelling far and wide looking for adventure, making new friends and visiting their loved ones. Dorothy and Wilbert recently celebrated 63 years of marriage in February of 2022. Dorothy liked to play computer games/card games and board games, go fishing-even if she didn’t get the biggest fish. She kept up with her family by talking on the phone and kept up with everyone else on Facebook. She liked to get her hair done every Saturday so it looked nice on Sundays for church. She loved go out for banana shakes with anyone that offered, order catfish, if it was on the menu, drink her sweet tea, paint her nails pink and drop everything to go gambling with her best friend Carolyn or son-in-law Dwight. She was a joy to be around, with her sweet smile, quick wit – able to pull a good joke out of thin air and was always bragging on her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She went to heaven leaving behind many who loved her and many that knew she loved them. Survivors include her husband, Wilbert Janssen; 4 children: Dee (Doug) Kuklenz - The Colony, TX; Garry (Sara) Janssen – Lewisburg, TN; Debbie Janssen - Humboldt, IA; Jennifer (Dwight) Swanson – Rosemount, MN; 6 grandchildren: Karl (Audrey) Kuklenz – Houston, TX; Jill (Dr. Joshua) Elliott – Little Elm, TX; Jackie (Jonathan) Kiefer – Colorado Springs, CO; Bradley Janssen – Apple Valley, MN; Makayla and Allie Swanson – Rosemount, MN; 4 great-grandchildren (Andrew/Caleb Elliott – Little Elm, TX; Aurora/Rhone Kuklenz – Houston, TX; Sisters: Francis Loflin-Clover S.C.; Brenda Gray-Curtis (Dave) – Fort Mill, S.C.; Phyllis (Ronnie) Kendrick-High Point, N.C.; Brother: Gerald Hall-Ackworth, GA. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents Willis Odell Philbeck & Mary Sue Philbeck; sister Doris, brother Bobby and infant son, Terry Jo, who died at birth. Copyright Lampe & Powers Funeral Home, (712) 464-7665, https://www.powersfh.net