Jan Ditmeyer

Janet Kay (Frey) Ditmeyer was born on December 13, 1942 to Pete and Laura (Stanley) Frey in Fulda, Minnesota. When she was young, she moved with her family to Pipestone, Minnesota where she was raised and attended school. During her high school years Jan participated in the local Hiawatha Pageant where she played Minnehaha her senior year. In 1960 she graduated from Pipestone High School. After graduation, she worked at Jordan Millwork in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She then attended school at St. Cloud State for one year. On November 4, 1961, Jan married the love of her life, Rodney Ditmeyer, at First Presbyterian Church in Pipestone and together over the next years, they welcomed their three children, Lisa, Teri and Mike, while they lived on a farm outside Pipestone. During 1977 to 1983, she worked diligently at the Good Samaritan Village, Pipestone County Museum, Midland Fertilizer Plant and New Life Treatment Center. Later on in 1983, she became employed at River Park of South Dakota and in 1984, they moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. A few years later in 1986, Jan and Rod moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where Jan began working at St. Lukes Gordon, working with people suffering with addictions. She then continued her education at the University of South Dakota, graduating in 1994 with a B.S. degree in Alcohol and Drug Studies. Jan joined a private practice with Associates for Psychological and Therapy Services in Sioux City, where she welcomed those struggling in the grasps of addiction and mental health crises into her home for their counseling sessions. From 1997 to 2003, Jan worked for Maplewood Behavioral Health and Child Connect. The couple moved back to Pipestone in 2019. On Sunday, August 23, 2026, she passed away suddenly at Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls at the age of 83, eight months and 10 days.

Jan was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Pipestone where she was active in Ladies Aid and directed Junior choir and sang in the Senior choir. She was active in Christian Women groups, bowling league, golf and held many offices. After she began her career as a counselor, she was a member of National Assoc. of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors and Sioux City Drug Court Panel, and Sioux Land Cares Advisory Board. She was a CPM Evaluator for Iowa Board of Substance Abuse and developed and presented various workshops and seminars. Jan had a deep passion for helping others and her love was poured into her work. Her words touched the lives of countless people who turned to her in their darkest hours. Jan was incredibly musically inclined – she used music to also touch the lives of people, using her own lyrics to express her emotions. Those who had the privilege to know Jan will feel the absence of her presence deeply but her legacy of love will carry on in those whose lives she bettered.

She is lovingly remembered by her husband, Rodney Ditmeyer of Pipestone, Minnesota; her three children, Lisa of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Teresa (Bud) of Rochester, Minnesota, and Michael (Angela) of Hixson, Tennessee; seven grandchildren, Taylor (Aaron), Hayley, Hollie (David), Wesley (Caitlin), Curran, Matthew and Laura (Steven); nine great-grandchildren, Amara, Isaiah, Jesiah, Alexandria, Thomas, Henry, Maggie, Ruthie and Ella; and one sister, Cheryl (Arlen) of Mesa, Arizona. Jan was preceded in death by her parents, Pete and Laura Frey; and her siblings, Jim and Geneva.