Janet A. Bowers Ford, 88, of Osage, Iowa, passed away Saturday, December 15, 2018, at Apple Valley Assisted Living in Osage.
Cremation has taken place.
Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Friday, December 21, 2018, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Osage with Rev. Cindy S. Krause officiating. The family will greet friends and relatives at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church for an hour prior to the service on Friday. Inurnment will be at the Osage Cemetery. Following services, there will be a time for lunch and to visit with the family at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church.
Jan was born January 15, 1930, in Caledonia, Minnesota, to Clarence and Helma (Tofte) Bowers. She graduated from Caledonia High School in 1948. Following graduation in 1952 from Milwaukee-Downer College in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she was an assistant buyer at Dayton’s Department Store in Minneapolis. Jan then started her teaching career and taught in Chisago City and Harmony, both in Minnesota. She traveled extensively and spent a year working as a recreational director in Bindlach, Germany. Jan married Harold R. Ford in 1959. They had one daughter, Rona. She later returned to teaching in Houston, Minnesota, and then taught Home Economics for 22 years in her hometown of Caledonia. After a total of 32 years of teaching, Jan retired and moved to Osage in 1990.
Jan was a member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, having previously served on church boards there and also at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Caledonia. She had been a member of the Rachel Circle, Shakespearean Club, Retired Teachers, Eastern Star, Sons of Norway, and the Bread and More Luncheon Club.
She loved to travel, was an accomplished knitter, enjoyed cooking, reading, shopping, music, writing and going to restaurants, but most of all she loved spending time with her family, especially her two grandsons, Eric and Nathan.
Jan is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Rona and Dennis Johnson of Osage; her grandsons, Eric Johnson and wife, Erin, of Des Moines, Iowa, and Nathan Johnson of Ames, Iowa. She is also survived by one nephew and three nieces and their families.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, William “Bill” Bowers and wife, Kathryn; her sister, Dorothy Hollis and husband, Lynn; and many other dear relatives and friends.
Jan will be remembered for her strong faith and the care and concern that she showed for others, and for being a wonderful cook.
Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home, Osage (641) 732-3706.
