Janet P. Lutz

Janet P. Lutz, 97, of Exeter, passed away Wednesday, October 11, 2023 in Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. Janet was born in Columbia, PA, raised in Lancaster and graduated from McCaskey High School. She studied at Traphagen School of Fashion Design and worked on Wall Street while in New York. Janet was also an IBM operator at Lancaster County National Bank before accepting a job as a model for Vanity Fair Mill, which brought her to Reading. In her earlier days, Janet's sense of style and fashion led her to manage the downtown Feel Fine Store, also working at the LadyBug Shop, Mikasa and Talbot's. She prided herself on providing the best customer service experiences. She was an inspiration and role model for many young working women, who often sought her opinion and assistance. Janet was always doing volunteer work. She started with braille as a teenager with the Blind Association, and continued her work with the American Cancer Society, Reading Hospital Friends, Berks Visiting Nurse, Berks County Food Bank, and was always finding ways to help those less fortunate. She participated at Schwarzwald Lutheran and Schwarzwald U.C.C. churches, and particularly enjoyed helping to bake cookies and roll Easter eggs during the holidays. She loved helping out with concession stands at Reading Hospital and Oley Fairs, anywhere she could meet and greet people. Janet loved entertaining, cooking and decorating her home, but most of all she cherished her family and loved her friends and neighbors. She loved getting together for dominos, movies, eating out, church, festivals, shopping and attending sporting events. You name it, Janet was game! Whether it was for a ride, an outing, a get together, her energy and enthusiasm for life was unmatched and often hard to keep up with. If you were out with Janet and came across someone she didn't know, it would be an unusual day. She knew and was admired by many people, her personable nature and true interest in others were rare. Janet was known for loyally remembering friends' and families' birthdays, anniversaries, and special events with handpicked and personalized cards. Janet was one of a kind, a gift from God. As in one of her favorite passages from Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I made you in your mother's womb, I chose you." She was a gift to the world, a divine work of art, signed by God and will be dearly missed by all. Every day she was in awe of the Lord's creations, especially in awe of His creation of her children; the late Wedge, husband of Sue Whitman, of Fountain Hills, AZ, Chip, husband of Bonnie Spatz, of Reading, Courtney, wife of Thomas Gallagher, of Haddam, CT, and Putter, husband of Kim Stankiewicz, of Reading. She was a dear grandmother to; Seth, John, Amanda, Jordan, Asa, Adam, Jenna, Peter, Whitney, Grant, Rachel, and Ian, as well as a dear great-grandmother to; Isaac, Abigail, Judah, Pearl, Micah, Charlotte, Eleanor, Ally, John, Sophie, Nora, Callen, Bode, Drew, Samantha, Henry, Chandler, Hudson, Ariel, Charlie, Grace, Bennett, and August. She is also survived by her sister Shirley Gorner, wife of Robert, of Lancaster, and her brother Robert Lutz, husband of Eileen, of Lancaster. She is preceded in death by her siblings; Donald, Russell, and Emma Katherine. Visitation with family and friends will be held on Sunday, October 15, 2023 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, with services beginning at 3:00 pm in Lutz Funeral Home, Inc., 2100 Perkiomen Avenue Reading, PA 19606. Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to Berks Visiting Nurse Association, 1170 Berkshire Blvd #1220 Wyomissing, PA 19610, or to American Red Cross, 237 Court Street Reading, PA 19601. Lutz Funeral Home, Inc. is in charge of arrangements. For online condolences, please visit www.LutzFuneralHome.com