Janet Fontana

Janet Christine Fontana (nee Swenson), 73, of St. Paul, Minnesota passed away on December 31st in her sleep.

She was born on March 16, 1951 in Minneapolis, MN, the daughter of John and Christine (Malmborg) Swenson.

Janet grew up in the Kenny neighborhood of Minneapolis and while a true 'city girl' she had a deep love of nature and animals so it should come as no surprise that her first rescue was a baby squirrel which she and her siblings nursed back to health before they released it into the wild.

Janet attended Washburn High School (class of 1969) before studying nursing at the Hennepin General Hospital School of Nursing (class of 1972). She worked in numerous hospitals throughout the US over her career (IL, CA, OK, MN, GA, TX, AL and FL) as well as at the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt Germany. She loved caring for people and specialized in oncology and home healthcare where she felt she could make the biggest difference not only in her patients' lives but with their families as well. She was voted nurse of the year when she was working in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and her family lovingly nicknamed her "Florence" after Florence Nightingale because of the care and devotion she tirelessly provided to all of her patients. She would even bring meals to those without families during the holidays to ensure they knew they were cared for.

Janet was preceded in death by her parents John and Christine Swenson, her brother John Swenson and her brother-in-law Ken Sand. She is survived by her two children, Jon and Kerstin Geisler (Jamison), her sister Paula Sand, her brother Jim Swenson (Lena) and her three grandchildren Lorelei, Rocco and Stone (Kerstin).

Memorial service Wednesday (1/15), 1:30 PM with visitation starting at 12:30 PM at Lakewood Cemetery Chapel, 3600 Hennepin Avenue. Interment Lakewood Cemetery.

Memorials preferred to the Golden Valley Animal Humane Society. To donate directly please click here.