Janet Joan (Schenke) Brockmeyer

Janet Joan Brockmeyer, 91, of Colesburg, Iowa, passed away on Monday, November 18, 2019, at Mercy Medical Center in Mason City.  She was born on March 8, 1928, in Colesburg, the daughter of Ben and Florence (Kurrelmeyer) Schenke. Growing up on a farm with seven siblings, she formed her life-long habit of working hard at an early age.

Janet graduated from Colesburg High School in 1946 and went to teach in a one room schoolhouse after her graduation. When her high school sweetheart, Virgil Brockmeyer, returned from the Navy, they were married and blessed to be each other’s best friends for over 50 years. Two children, Jan and Gina, were blessed to call them mom and dad. As an adult, Janet went back to college to earn her four-year degree, and enjoyed teaching elementary school at Edgewood-Colesburg for 20 years.

After Virgil’s death in 2005, she moved to Mason City to be near her daughter. Leaving the only home town she had ever known as a senior citizen, was tough. She not only succeeded in the challenge, but thrived in her new home town. Janet was extremely active in the church, both in the Colesburg United Methodist and later at First Methodist in Mason City.  She was always on call to do something at the church, and she loved it. Janet did say recently, however, that at age 91, she was ready to give up working funerals!

Janet was preceded in death by her husband, Virgil; her parents, Ben and Florence Schenke; her parents-in-law, Amber and Milton Brockmeyer; two brothers, Bud and Bob Schenke; three sisters, Marie Schenke, Donna Reynolds, and Ruth Lanning; and a sister-in-law, Delpha Brockmeyer.

She is survived by one sister, Wilma Lincoln; two sisters-in-law, Hope Schenke and LaVera Schenke; one brother-in-law, Myron Brockmeyer; along with numerous nieces, nephews, and loved ones.

Left to honor her memory and endless stories are her children, Jan (Terry) Brockmeyer of Cedar Rapids and Gina Hanna of Mason City; her “Danish daughter”, Marianne Jakobsen of Denmark; her grandchildren, who will miss the Christmas bags each year, are Kyle Brockmeyer and Joel (Tara) Brockmeyer all of Cedar Rapids, Alex (Amy) Hanna of Edgewood, and Lauren Hanna of North Brunswick, New Jersey; and the absolute lights in her life were her great-grandchildren, Eleanor Brockmeyer of Cedar Rapids and Lincoln and Claire Hanna of Edgewood.

Janet lived a full life, full of joy, love and fellowship with God. We should all be so lucky.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to either the Colesburg Methodist Church, the First United Methodist Church of Mason City, or the Zion Cemetery in Colesburg.

There will be a small memorial service at 10:00 a.m., on December 10, 2019, in the Wayside Chapel of the First United Methodist Church in Mason City.

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