COTTAGE GROVE - Janet Charlene Fletcher was born on December 7, 1931, in Des Moines, Iowa to John and Catherine Petty. She remembers her birthday well on December 7, 1941, with the attack on Pearl Harbor and President Roosevelt declaring that the United States was now a part of World War II.

She was 10 years old and her father went off to fight in the U.S. Army and was killed in action in North Africa during the war. This of course changed her life for her and her three sisters who were then raised by their mother, Catherine. She had an older sister, Joan, and twin younger sisters, Jean and Jane. Janet outlived all three of her sisters. After high school graduation from North High in Des Moines, she married John Fletcher in October of 1950. She worked with her mother at Modern Lighting in Des Moines for about three years.

Once she started raising her family of four boys, she started a home business similar to Welcome Wagon. Her husband, John, started selling life insurance with Prudential several years after their wedding and rose to the rank of Manager which included moves to Mason City, Iowa then back to Des Moines, then on to Madison, Wis., in 1969. John was promoted to Director of Marketing at the Prudential Regional Home Office in Minneapolis for four years at which point he transferred back to Des Moines as Prudential Manager until he retired in 1992. Janet was always supportive of these moves and her family. Through all the years of moving around she and her family took many family trips around the country for Prudential Regional Conventions. John also served in the Iowa National Guard for 23 years which included two-week summer training camps in Northern Minnesota where the family vacationed on area lakes. He retired from the Iowa National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel.

John and Janet spent 28 years enjoying retirement life in Des Moines, at which point her sons helped them move closer to family in the Madison area in 2020. They have lived in Cottage Grove for four years now. Son, Todd and his wife, Beth live in Sun Prairie; son, Tom lives in El Paso, Texas; son, Randy and his wife, Shannon live nearby in McFarland, Wis.; and son, Richard and his wife, Dione live in Deland, FL. Janet is also survived by her grandchildren, Maryah Fletcher, Jarod Fletcher, Nicole (Justin) Meyer, Dustin Fletcher, Darius (Michaela) Talkington-Fletcher and Chandler Talkington-Fletcher; and her great-grandchildren, Riley Fletcher and Oden Fletcher. Janet loved visiting her family around the country until her health recently deteriorated to the point where she could no longer travel comfortably. She passed away on Thursday, December 12, 2024, just five days after her 93rd birthday, at home. She will be greatly missed by her husband, John, along with her family and friends.

A funeral service will be held at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, 229 N. Main St., Cottage Grove, at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 21, 2024, with the Rev. Elaine Hanson-Hysell presiding. Burial will be held at Highland Memory Gardens in Des Moines, Iowa. Visitation will be held at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service on Saturday.

Memorials in Janet’s memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com.

Gunderson Madison East
Funeral & Cremation Care
5203 Monona Drive
(608) 221-5420

Janet Fletcher

December 07, 1931 - December 12, 2024

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