Member Spotlight
January/February
2025

Janette Pauley

 I was born Janette Althea Meye on October 5th, 1950, in Davenport, Iowa and was raised in a small town in Southwestern Wisconsin called Potosi. A small house, but adequate. My parents, Albert and Helen Meye and my older sister Pam.

My dad was a POW of World War II for 27 months. The Army declared him dead by a fellow officer, who mistakenly saw his demise. Later returning home to everyone’s surprise. Years went by and, as a child, I felt my dad was an extremely rough man.

The pastor that delivered his eulogy enlightened my sister and myself. "If you were in a round barn, not being able to go to the bathroom, unless you were being shot at. How would you feel? If the enemy forced you to dig potatoes at gunpoint, sneaking the ones that had worms, knowing it was the only protein you would get. Does that make you tough? The Germans marched the POW’s up and down the country, planes strafed them losing ¾ of the prisoners. Can you understand why he felt guilty he survived?" My sister and I winced, thinking we were too hard on him.

My dad had an extraordinarily strong connection with my second husband Ralph Pauley. Ralph would listen to him endlessly telling the same story over and over. Shellshock was the condition he suffered from. Now called PTSD. It was a bond they both understood. Anything to protect the USA!

I had been married to Larry Swart in 1970. Living in Platteville, WI. We had two boys, Jason, and Logan. After 21 years, life happened.

Ralph and I met in 1992. I met him in my mom and dad’s kitchen in Northern Wisconsin. I had been working two jobs to make ends meet. When he walked in, he said to me, “Hey, would you like to go with me to California for a week, expenses paid?” WOW, this guy is fast! I replied, “NO, I must work to pay my bills!” After a lot of discussion, we parted ways, exchanging phone numbers. That was it. We married two years later in 1994.

Ralph worked at the Chrysler Corporation in Belvedere, IL. The union elected him as Recording Secretary for 18 years for the UAW Chapter 1268. He also served on the Veterans board and later was the chairperson for the Region 4 Chapter.

Ralph was elected to serve on the first National Veterans Counsel in Washington, DC. Lobbying for Veterans rights and benefits. When we decided to retire, we did not. We flipped houses from Wisconsin to Illinois to MO, to AR, to KY and back to WI.

Then we made our final move to Florida. We fell in love with the Heritage Pines community. We played Karaoke for years and started doing it in the little bar and lobby. If anyone needed help, we got involved. Doing benefits, for Cancer, Floods, Hurricanes & Veterans. The most recent was Hope for Ukraine.

Ralph started the Veterans Club in 2018 with the help of fellow board members. Bringing in speakers and educational programs to support our Veterans.

I shared his vision and currently serve on the board as Coordinator and Event Planner. I would like to extend to all Veterans an invite to come and sit in, on one of our meetings.

We meet on the first Friday of every month. We would love to have your input ideas and vision for the future.

I feel so blessed and honored to serve our Veterans.