Menzel, Janet R.

Janet R. Menzel, 68, of Fort Dodge, passed away Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home in Fort Dodge. Funeral services will be at 2:30 p.m. Friday, May 25, at Trinity United Methodist Church, Fort Dodge, with the Rev. Steve Peters and the Rev. Richard Menzel officiating. Burial will take place at a later date at Howard Cemetery in Elma, Iowa. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home in Fort Dodge.

Survivors include her husband, Bob of Fort Dodge; son, Bruce Menzel and his wife, Michele of Maple Grove, Minn.; daughter, Jodi Spencer and her husband, Tom of Raleigh, N.C.; grandchildren, Jae and Ty of Maple Grove, Minn., Malia, and Gray and Hadley of Raleigh, N.C.; her sister, June Judge of Iowa City; and a sister-in-law, Janet Brandmill of Quincy, Ill.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dinsmore and Ruth (Bailard) Brandmill; and a brother, Jack Brandmill.

Janet Ruth Brandmill was born on July 28, 194,3 in El Paso, Texas. As a young child, she moved with her family to Elma, a town named after her grandmother, Elma Potter. She attended schools there and later graduated from Crestwood High School in Cresco, Iowa. Janet attended Rochester Junior College in Rochester, Minn., and then continued her studies at the University of Iowa. Following her education, she went to work in the Public Relations Department at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

On Nov. 22, 1969, she was united in marriage to Robert K. Menzel and the couple made their home in Cedar Rapids. They lived briefly in Mason City, Iowa, before moving to Fort Dodge in 1978. For several years Jan was the office administrator for the Crocker Claims office the couple co-owned and also worked for Levien Chevrolet. In 1982, Janet went to work for the Fort Dodge Public Schools as a library associate at Phillips Middle School and later Fair Oaks Middle School, before retiring in 2000. The couple spent their winters at Sunlake Estates in Grand Island, Fla.

Janet was a volunteer for the Fort Dodge Public Library and was very active at Trinity United Methodist Church in Fort Dodge. She enjoyed playing golf, bridge and participating in craft club. Jan loved to spend time with her family, especially her grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers the family is asking that memorials may be left in Jan's name to Trinity United Methodist Church or to the Paula J. Baber Hospice Home, both in Fort Dodge.