Janette Kelly

Janette Aleen (née McCurdy) Kelly passed away peacefully at the age of 91 on June 16th, 2023, with family by her side. Born on December 5th, 1931 in North English, Iowa, she was the cherished firstborn of four children and the only daughter of Melvin and Phyllis (née Morris) McCurdy, affectionately called Mac and Phyd.

Raised during the Depression, Janette saw her educator father work on road maintenance crews in the summertime to keep a paycheck coming in during “vacation”. Janette’s first summer job was “detasseling corn”.

Janette participated in savings bond drives and collected scrap metal throughout World War II, and was fastidious about recycling for the rest of her life.

In 1949, Janette graduated from Paton High School in Iowa, where she was a point guard for the girls’ basketball team and a cheerleader for the boys’ team. She then attended Iowa State University in Ames.

Janette married her high school sweetheart, Thomas Francis Kelly, in 1952. They welcomed their first child, Tom Jr., the following year in San Jose, California where Tom Sr. was stationed while serving in the US Army.

Upon his discharge, Janette and her husband moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where Tom began his distinguished career with Arthur Andersen & Co. They were blessed with four more children: Ellen, Maureen, Barry and Kevin. With her husband often traveling for work, Janette was the quintessential full-time Mom.

Janette’s husband was transferred to the firm’s San Francisco office in 1966, so they returned to California and finished raising their family in Menlo Park. Janette’s precision penmanship made her the Go-To Mom for many years of “volunteering” to create the signs for events at school and church. A devout Catholic, she always had a local circle of good friends through her church’s Ladies Guild. But Janette also maintained old friendships over many miles and many years, before email and unlimited calling plans existed.

In the early 1980’s, with their children grown, Janette and Tom moved to Singapore for his career finale. With Janette at liberty to accompany Tom on business trips, they traveled together extensively throughout the Far East during this period.

They moved back to California when Janette’s husband retired in the mid 1980’s, enjoying golf and travel until his death in 1993. Janette continued to travel the world after Tom’s death, sometimes with organized groups but sometimes on her own. Friendly and interested, she invariably returned home with a new pen pal.

Janette was well loved and will be much missed.

Janette is survived by her five children, 10 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, also by her dear youngest brother Bill and his wife Jolene and by sisters-in-law Sherrie McCurdy and Joann Craft.

Janette will be laid to rest beside her husband of 41 years at Holy Cross Cemetery in Menlo Park, California.

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