Obituary of Janice Lee Sheaffer-Franxman

Janice Lee Sheaffer-Franxman, 74, of Verona, KY, passed away at home on Thursday, February 1, 2024. The daughter of the late Ronald and Helen {Lawton} Fritz, Janice was born in Pittsburgh, PA on April 5, 1949.   

Jan was from Mars, Pennsylvania where she was drum majorette during her high school years.  She got her degree in nursing and traveled overseas during the conflict in Vietnam. Jan was a RN for 41 years before her retirement, she lived in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cyprus while traveling with the Peace Corps as a civilian nurse in the 1970s helping perform surgeries on children and orphans with cleft palates and limb deformations. 

When Jan came back from overseas, she lived near Miami, Florida where she worked as a nurse and nurse recruiter and volunteered with the American Red Cross after hurricane Andrew. 

Jan was creative her whole life and made costumes, sets, and props for her daughter’s school plays, vacation bible school, school classrooms, and more. She never turned down a decorating challenge. She decorated for every holiday and always got into the spirit of whatever she did, decorating or celebrating whether it was Easter, St Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Independence Day, Christmas, you name it! 

An animal lover her whole life, Jan especially loved her horses and rode on an equestrian drill team and drove carriages later in life but over the years also kept cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rats, mice, lizards, pot-bellied pigs, pygmy fainting goats, chickens, ducks, sheep, rabbits, fish, and any other critters her animal-loving daughters had a whim to keep. 

A master gardener, she would grow a huge vegetable garden and beautiful perennial flowers every year and win prizes for her veggies and flowers at the county fair each summer. 

Jan was a lifelong learner and loved to read books about American history, especially the Civil War and WW11, and many other topics. She took her horses to civil war reenactments in northern Kentucky to add to the authenticity of the event. 

She loved music, especially Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Jimmy Buffett, and Motown hits. She played the piano, there were a few songs and hymns she liked to play for many years. 

Jan will be deeply missed by her beloved husband, Walter Franxman; daughters Kelly (Nathan) Stephens and Katie Holzhause; step-children Jeff (Marie) Franxman and Monica (Jeff) Egger; grandchildren Bronc Stephens, Lance Catinhorn, Jordan (Jarrod) Franxman-Lucas, Montgomery Franxman, Amelia Franxman, Lincoln (Kemper) Franxman; two great-granddaughters; three great-grandsons; sister Ronna Fritz; nieces Dana Faucett, Valerie Kamzalow, and Joyce Schlereth; best friends Dona Gartrell and Beth Casarona; and several great nieces, great nephews, and other relatives whom she cherished. 

In addition to her parents, Jan was preceded in death by her first husband Lawrence “Larry” Sheaffer and sister Pamela Kamzalow. 

Visitation will be held between 5 PM and 8 PM on Thursday, February 8th at Chambers and Grubbs Funeral Home, 11382 Madison Pike Independence, KY 41051. Her funeral service will begin at 11 AM on Friday, February 9th at the funeral home with her interment to follow at Independence Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital by clicking here and/or to Violet Ridge Christian Church at 1000 Violet Rd. Crittenden, KY 41030. For directions or to share an online condolence please visit the corresponding tabs on this page.