Obituary of Janette Aleen Kelly

Janette A. Kelly: December 5, 1931 - June 16, 2023 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 own first summer job would be “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 and they welcomed their first child the following year. Tom Jr. was born at the Presidio Army hospital in San Francisco, near where Tom Sr. was stationed in San Jose, California 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: 24/7/365. 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 extraordinarily precise 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. Janette did all of the couple’s driving in the congested city-state, including chauffeuring Tom in peak traffic to and from the financial district each day. She was very proud of her Singapore driving license, and very grateful to leave Singapore accident-free. With Janette at liberty to accompany Tom on business trips, they traveled together extensively throughout the Far East during this period. When Janette’s husband retired in the mid 1980’s, they moved back to California and enjoyed 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 always home for the holidays. It was her great joy to preside as matriarch over a lively houseful of family on Thanksgiving and Christmas, always making a huge pot of soup from scratch for the first night so that stragglers would have something warm to eat no matter what time they arrived. Janette/Mom/Grandma was very well loved and will be very much missed. Janette is survived by her five children, 10 grandchildren and three great grandchildren, also by her dear youngest brother and three sisters-in-law. Following a 10:00 a.m. funeral mass at St. Denis church in Menlo Park, California on June 28th, Janette will be laid to rest beside her husband of 41 years at Holy Cross Cemetery, also in Menlo Park. In lieu of flowers, the family requests remembrances be sent to the Alzheimer's Federation of America (alzfdn.org). Funeral Service Held At: Saint Denis Catholic Church Day: Wednesday, June 28, 2023 Time: 11:00AM Address: 2250 Avy Ave., Menlo Park [Sharon Heights], CA Phone: 650-854-5976 Burial Held At: Holy Cross Cemetery Time: Arrive 12:15 – 12:30 PM Address: Corner of Santa Cruz Ave & Avy Ave., Menlo Park Phone: 650-323-6375 Reception Held At: Left Bank [restaurant]. La Salle des Amis Room; Hors D’oeurvres & Drinks Time: Arrive ~2:30 PM [after the burial] Address: 635 Santa Cruz, Menlo Park Phone: 650-473-6543 Memorial Website: LINK to the website is: janette-aleen-kelly.forevermissed.com