Janet Ray Seefeldt

June 30, 1939‐March 6, 2016

Janet Ray Guard Seefeldt, 76, of Littleton, Colorado, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Sunday, March 6, 2016 at Mill Vista at Windcrest. She is survived by her husband Bill, her son Doug (Tara) and two granddaughters of Muncie, Indiana, and her daughter Holly (Ken) and two grandsons of Littleton.

Born to Hilda Alt Guard and Lawrence Ray Guard on June 30, 1939 at Mennonite Hospital in Bloomington, Illinois, Janet spent her first two years living with her

parents on the family farm in El Paso, Illinois. In the summer of 1941 her parents divorced and she and her mother lived with her Aunt Violet and Uncle Henry Koch on their farm in El Paso. From November 1941‐January 1942 Janet lived with her Aunt and Uncle while her mother moved to Peoria for work. She rejoined her mother who worked for Caterpillar in Peoria until October 1943 when Hilda purchased a home in Washington, Illinois and Janet lived there with her mother and her grandparents Anna and John Alt. Her mother married Charles M. Saunders, a World War II veteran, in October 1945 and the three of them moved to Canton, Illinois in December.

Active in the Girl Scouts and a member of the Canton Busy Bees 4‐H Club from 1950‐1954, Janet enjoyed dressmaking and baking and competed in locally and statewide, winning “best dressmaker” in a contest sponsored by Singer Sewing Machine in 1953 and went on to take home a ribbon from the Illinois State Fair in 1954. She was also active in the local chapter of Job’s Daughters.

Janet went to Central School in Canton through 8th grade and attended the old high school for her first year and the new Canton Senior High School in 1953, here she graduated as part of the National Honors Society in 1957. In high school her favorite subjects were economics and English, her favorite musicians were The Four freshmen, and her favorite movies were Giant and An Affair to Remember. In her First visit out west, she and her family took a vacation visiting Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming.

Janet then went to Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois for two years, 1957‐59, where she studied pre‐med. She then enrolled in a medical technologists program and held an internship at St. Francis Hospital School of Medical Technology in Peoria before passing the Registry of Medical Technologists examination in 1960 and continuing to work in that field until 1969.

Janet met Peoria man William G. “Bill” Seefeldt through mutual friends Jerry and Becky Haven and the couple were married on June 29, 1963 in a candlelight ceremony at Grace Lutheran Church. Their son William Douglas was born in 1964 and their daughter Holly Jean was born in 1965. Janet and her family lived in Peoria until the fall of 1973 when they moved to Littleton, Colorado. Janet worked retail jobs while raising her young children. Once the children were school‐aged she got back into the medical profession working at the Littleton Pediatrics Medical Center, the OB/GYN Center and other physicians’ practices in the area. In her retirement she enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren Andrew and Brandon (Holly) and Nora and Meg (Doug). In her later years Janet loved living with her husband in Arizona.

A celebration of Janet’s life will be held at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary & Cemetery,6601 S. Colorado Blvd., Centennial, CO 80121 on Saturday, March 12 at 10:00 AM. The last few years Janet had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and the family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association of Colorado in her name to help find a cure for this devastating disease: Alzheimer's Association of Colorado 455 Sherman St. Denver, CO 80209

http://www.alz.org/co/in_my_community_donate.asp