Janice Graves

Janice Lee Graves was born to Gene and Mary (Lancaster) Ryun in Chariton, Iowa on July 5, 1941. She went to school at Franklin Elementary, Alma Clay Junior High and Chariton High School (Class of 1959). In addition to babysitting her brother, Donnie, and her sisters' kids, she worked during her lunch period and on Saturdays at Agnes McKinney's restaurant.

Her parents were not happy that she joined the Army after Graduation. Boot Camp was at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama. It was her first time out of Lucas County. She got off the train and took a drink at a water fountain, and everyone was looking at her. She looked up and saw "Colored Only". She loved boot camp because it was clean, she got meals on a regular basis, she had clothes to wear and no one's clothes were better because everyone wore the same thing.

Next stop was Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas where she went to be a medic and trained in the hospitals on base. One day her supervisor asked her if she could type. She had taken typing in high school and ended up typing reports all night for her supervisor instead of doing medic work. Jan decided she liked typing and got a clerical job at one of the hospitals.

Panic set in when her specialty was changed back to medical and she was sent back to the range to shoot the M-16 rifle. She thought she was being sent to Vietnam. Luckily, that did not end up being the case and she was reclassified back to clerical.

She reenlisted and left in 1962 for Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana to go to stenography school. She and her roommates would go to fancy shops in Indianapolis to try on furs and other clothes they couldn't afford.

One of her roommates dated a guy in personnel and he asked Jan if there was any place she really wanted to go and she said Washington D.C. After her training was done, she learned she had been assigned to the clerical pool for Army Intelligence at the Pentagon. After another six months of training and agents being sent to Lucas County to interview multiple people, she was granted her top-secret security clearance and was assigned to the 902 nd Intelligence Corps where she was secretary to a group of intelligence officers.

There was just one female agent in their office, so when that agent was busy and they needed a female to go on surveillance, they would come get Jan. Hours were long and she often worked from early in the morning until Midnight. She was at the office when they got the news that JFK had been assassinated. Jan was at the procession with her colleagues as Little John, Caroline and Jackie O. passed by them.

Jan was honorably discharged in Aug. 1965 and went into civil service. Her first job was at the Executive Office of the President, which was across the street from the White House. She eventually returned to the Pentagon as a civilian and worked with the Foreign Attaché Security Section providing support to agents at American Embassies around the world.

Jan came home for Christmas in 1965 and met Kenny "Chippy" Graves at the Eagle's Club in Chariton. She worked in Washington D.C. the following year until Kenny drove out and told her he wanted to buy her a ring. They got the ring when she was home again in July and they were married on Sept. 10, 1966 at the Christian Church in Chariton.

After Kenny left the Air Force, he operated heavy equipment, which meant them moving and living in Hamburg; Sidney; Bloomfield; Moline, Ill.; Alpha, Ill.; Leon; Villisca and Nevada. Their son Mike was born in Moline in July 1967. Kevin was born in Chariton in Dec. 1970.

When Kenny's mother died in 1977, the family relocated from Nevada to Williamson to live with and take care of his father. After being a stay-at-home Mom, Jan returned to work in the Medical Transcription Unit at the Veteran's Administration in Knoxville in Nov. 1980. Due to her security clearance, investigations taking place in the Midwest were sent to her to transcribe. After several years, she wrote a Lead Transcriptionist position description and the VA approve it and hired her for the job.

As a break from the medical dictionary, she read Harlequin romance novels and National Enquirer-type magazines for years. Jan stayed loyal to Gibbs from NCIS until the end, but finally said goodbye to Rafe and Days of Our Lives when she didn't like some of the storylines. Her favorite singer was Gene Watson.

Jan retired at the beginning of 2002 and was thrilled to spend more time babysitting her newest granddaughter, Zoie. She became a Bingo fanatic and at one point played at three different places every week with an impressive collection of glue sticks and dabbers. After many years of service, she was elected the Vice President of the Williamson Community Foundation Board. Later, Bingo was replaced with scratch-off tickets and pull tabs.

She cared for her husband for several years and after he passed away, she moved from Williamson to Chariton. After another five years, she moved to Homestead Assisted Living. She passed away at Chariton Specialty Care on March 25 at the age of 84. She was preceded in death by her parents, siblings Shirley, Barb, Bill, Donnie and her husband of over 50 years, Kenny.

She is survived by her sons Mike (Lori) of Chariton and Kevin (Liz) of Colorado Springs, granddaughters Maggie Jones, Zoie Graves, Olivia Graves, sisters-in-law, brother-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

Family will receive friends on Saturday, April 25, 2026, between 1 to 3 p.m. at Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Chariton, Iowa. Military honors will be held at the Funeral Home at 3 p.m. Burial will follow at the Chariton Cemetery at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Williamson Volunteer Fire Department and the Chariton High School Alumni Association.