Janice "Jan" A. Steinhaus

JANICE “JAN” A. STEINHAUS, age 89 of Waterville, died on the evening of Thursday, October 24, at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

Jan was born on July 17, 1935, in Hayfield to parents Harold and Catherine (Penfield) Swift. She graduated from Waterville High School before attending the Minnesota School of Business where she was trained as a Medical Technician. On April 13, 1956, Jan married her high school sweetheart, Bruce Sheldon Steinhaus, at the First Baptist Church in Waterville. Following their wedding the couple moved to Worthington where she worked at the TB Sanitorium. They later moved to New Prague where Jan was employed at a plastic factory, established the youth group at First Baptist Church, and volunteered as the church’s choir director. Later their family moved to Wells to purchase and operate Steinhaus Hardware and Jan used her medical skills at the Virning Clinic until 1982. She retired to the family farm in 2001. Jan had been involved with her local 4-H on the Rabbit Project and was also a judge. She was a member and past president of the Minnesota State Rabbit Breeder’s Association, the Owatonna Rabbit Club, and the New Prague Home Extension. Jan enjoyed raising and showing rabbits, birdwatching, gardening, making fur products, music, cooking and baking, and was a fantastic hostess that loved to attend her family’s sporting and music activities. She was a long-time member of the First Baptist Church in Waterville and she will be missed by many friends she made there.

Jan is survived by her husband of sixty-eight years, Bruce Steinhaus of Waterville; three children, Todd (Kathy) Steinhaus of Wells, Tim (Joan) Steinhaus of Waterville, and Pam Steinhaus of Sterling, IL; five grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; multiple step-great-grandchildren; one step-great-great-grandchild; and two siblings, Ronald (Garnet) Swift of Mapleton, and Barbara Bosshardt of Shoreview. She was preceded in death by her parents; and one brother, Donald (Anita) Swift.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, November 1, 2024 at the Waterville Chapel of Dennis-Steffel-Omtvedt Funeral and Cremation Service, and will continue for one hour before the funeral service at the church on Saturday.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at the First Baptist Church in Waterville, with Rev. Gene Witte officiating. Jan’s ashes will be laid to rest in the columbarium at Sakatah Cemetery in Waterville.