Naomi Yaeger

Growing up in a small Minnesota prairie town in the 1930s and 40s, Janette Minehart enjoyed the bonds of love, faith, family and community. She witnessed the struggles of the Great Depression and the upheaval of World War II. Her father worked as a telegrapher at the railroad depot, and her mother raised five children. Janette and her siblings with their mother stayed on their grandparents' farm in South Dakota one summer when the house they rented had been sold, and their new home wouldn’t be ready until fall. On a trip to buy new shoes for school, Janette saw a woman in a white uniform on the city street and began to nurture a dream to become a nurse. In 1941, her brother started working at the hardware store to help the owner, who had had a heart attack. Soon, the whole family worked there, and Janette’s parents purchased it and lived upstairs. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, Janette watched as men were drafted into the war and food, gas and other materials rationed. She never put sugar on her cereal again. After graduating from high school, Janette started nursing school in St. Paul. When she completed her studies, Janette returned home waiting to take her state board exams. One cold winter night, while working a shift at the nearest hospital, Janette received an urgent phone call. The hardware store was on fire. When she arrived, their home had burned to the ground along with much of downtown.