Janeille "Jan" Ann Cain

Janeille “Jan” Ann (Vlotho) Cain Age 78 of Ireton, Iowa passed away on December 29th, 2024, at Hawarden Regional Healthcare Hospital. 

 Jan was born January 28th, 1946, in Ireton, Iowa. She was the daughter of Emery and Cleone (Myers) Vlotho. 

 Jan graduated from West Sioux High School in 1963, then completed a 2-year nursing program to receive her Registered Nurse degree from the University of South Dakota. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Dubuque. 

Jan married Dan Cain on August 27th, 1966, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ireton. To this 58-year marriage were born four children Ann, Chris, Andrea and Becky. 

Jan was a life-long learner and helper. She started her 60-year career of nursing at Hawarden Hospital. She then worked at Lutheran Hospital in Sioux City. Dan and Jan moved to Belmond, Iowa where Jan worked in the clinic, emergency room and assisted with surgery. Jan and Dan also served on the Belmond ambulance team for many years. After Belmond, the family moved back to the Ireton area where she became the Sioux County public health nurse. After retiring from Sioux County, she worked for Woodbury County Public Health. Jan’s next chapter took her to Sheldon as a grant writer at Northwest Iowa Community College. After retiring from Sheldon, Jan continued her public health journey by becoming a social worker to assist many others in the local communities. Dan and Jan also co-owned and managed Oakhill Assisted Living in Hawarden for fourteen years. 

Jan dedicated many hours to others by co-founding the West Sioux Educational Foundation (WSEF). She served as the President of the WSEF as well as serving on the West Sioux School Board and church councils in both Belmond and Hawarden. In her later years, Jan managed and grew the Hawarden Food Pantry serving countless families in the community and surrounding areas.

Jan didn’t know a stranger and she was always there to greet you with a smile and ask how she could help. Jan assisted various community members to find housing, sign up for social security/disability, insurance and a seemingly endless number of other issues. Dan and Jan fostered fifteen children, hosted foreign exchange students and Japanese exchange teachers, and sponsored a Vietnamese refugee family after the Vietnam war. She was a successful grant writer and volunteer for Calliope Village. 

In her the free time Jan had, she enjoyed spending time with her family, especially at the Cain Family Farm where she lived and loved for forty-five years. Her favorite hobbies included traveling with her husband, going on yearly vacations with her children and grandchildren, sewing, quilting, playing piano, baking with her grandkids and genealogy research. 

Remaining to cherish Jan’s memory are spouse, Dan Cain; children, Ann (Troy) Tellinghuisen of Lincoln, NE, Chris (Teri) Cain of Omaha, NE, Andrea Cain of Whiting, IA and Becky (G.W.) Duff of West Des Moines, IA; grandchildren, Trew and Seth Tellinghuisen; Eleanor, Adelaide and Eliza Cain; Emmett, Cohen and Hank Duff, brothers Emery Vlotho, Jr of Hanford, CA, and Jerry (Bonnie) Vlotho, Sioux Center, IA. She is also survived by many nieces, nephews, cousins, foster children and grandchildren. 

 Preceding Jan in death were her parents Emery Sr. and Cleone. 

 Visitation will be held Sunday, January 5th, 2025, from 2-4 pm at Porter Funeral Home in Hawarden, Iowa. Funeral services will be held January 6th, 2025, at 10:30 am at Porter Funeral Home in Hawarden Iowa. Inurnment will be at St. John’s Cemetery, rural Ireton, with a meal following at the Ireton Community Center. 

 In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Jan’s memory should be directed to the West Sioux Educational Foundation.