Meet Jan Roeder

​Jan Roeder lives at 46211 Lakeview Drive. She moved back to Decatur in 2000 from Sarasota, FL to help with her father who was living on the farm alone, and experiencing memory problems.
Jan was  born in the farmhouse  on County road 215, and she graduated from Decatur High School in 1956. She recalls working at Narregan's Drug Store at the soda fountain when she was 16 to 19 years old. While we talked she reminisced about "one of the nicest stores in town". It was a newsstand run by Helyn Hillyer where there were all kinds of things, including the Wall Street Journal special ordered when her husband visited.   She also recalls a movie theater that closed in 1958, and an A&P grocery store.

Jan married and raised three children.   Her family moved around a lot due to her husband's international work with Pillsbury, Seagrams, & Tropicana.  Her husband died in December of 1996.
Not wanting to live on the farm she bought the Thomas house on Lakeview Drive.  Thomas developed a lot of the sub-division named Shady Shores.   She says she has great neighbors, Sandy Eich on one side of her, retired board member of LOWIA, and the Boersmas on the other side, with John just coming on the board this year.  She is happy that we have a lot of new board members who are carrying on the work of those who started the Association in the 80's.
Jan has been very active in the Decatur community. She is involved with  the First Presbyterian Church and serves as a Deacon there. She serves on the board of Decatur Human Services and her duties there are  advertising, news bulletins,  and overseeing  soup suppers to raise money  for DHS with the 14 organizations that participate.  The soup suppers are held at Holy Family Catholic Church.  Jan also writes articles and  takes pictures for the Decatur Republican newspaper. 
To stay in shape physically, Jan goes to Full Throttle for some cardio drumming, stretching and weights on Fridays in town. Her favorite restaurants in the area are: The Rock (Big Fish Lake in Marcellus), Chin Chin (Mattawan), Final Gravity, Nettie's Cafe and the Hard Times. She travels to Florida, Minneapolis and Chicago frequently to visit her grandchildren.
Jan likes living on Lake of the Woods. She said although she was raised in Decatur, she never paid much attention to the lake while growing up. She is not crazy about boats, although they had one in Florida,  but she has paddle boards that her granddaughters use when they visit. She says neighbors and friends take her for an occasional boat ride. She likes that the lake is so close to town and likes its quietness in the winter.  She, as others,  are  concerned about the boat traffic on the lake in the summer.
Did I mention Jan served on the LOWIA Board for a total of 10 years?  A big thank you to Jan for all those years of service!
I asked what might be missing from the lake and she said maybe a restaurant. "Then I'd have to have a boat!"  she added.
Jan says she likes living in Decatur.  "It's a big plus to be happy where you are."  and she is so right about that!!