×

Janet Habhab was hero to her husband, family

Funeral services set for wife of former mayor, judge

Janet Habhab

If indeed someone could be personified by these words from Bette Midler’s classic song “Wind Beneath My Wings,” it would be Janet Habhab:

“Did you ever know that you’re my hero

And everything I would like to be?

I can fly higher than an eagle

For you are the wind beneath my wings.”

For nearly 70 years, she was a hero to Al Habhab, the wind beneath his wings — the wife of one of Fort Dodge’s most well-known figures who was a decorated World War II veteran, an attorney, mayor of the city for 14 years, a district court judge and a state appellate court justice.

But that hero had teeth. If someone was critical of her husband, watch out.

“She was always supportive,” Habhab recalled. “She would take personal offense if something was said about me that was unkind. She would never do it publicly, but she’d tell me, ‘Where’d they get their information on that, they don’t even know you.'”

She helped him soar in his profession while raising their two children, Bob and Mary Beth; managing the family’s rental properties; forging many friendships; being active in the Republican Party; volunteering for Meals on Wheels and working to keep her husband grounded outside of work. There was so much more to her than met the eye – as many who knew her well recall in the wake of her death this past Tuesday at the age of 92.

“We have had the pleasure of being neighbors with Janet and Albert for 25 years,” said Dee and Bruce Murman. “We discovered early on that Janet was in charge of her household. She possessed a strong, authoritative persona with a no-nonsense approach to most everything. She was assertive and independent taking care of business — the business of her family. Albert may be the judge, but Janet was in command!”

More such memories will be shared by family and friends who gather for a visitation from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Gunderson Funeral Home and Cremation Services and for her funeral services at 10:30 a.m, Monday at First Congregational United Church of Christ, followed by interment in North Lawn Cemetery.

Her husband and her son were at her side — as well as emergency Fire Department officers — when she took her last breath in the living room of the home where they’ve lived since 1963.

“She said she knew she was going to die,” Al Habhab said. “I told her, ‘Get well, don’t be worried about dying.’ It was quick, she didn’t answer.”

In an interview with the son of his best friend, the late Messenger editor emeritus Walter Stevens, Habhab recalled one of the things he most remembered and admired about his wife of 59 years.

“Whenever there was something that needed to be done, she was more inclined to correct it than to complain about it,” Habhab said. “A lot of people complain and complain and do nothing about it. With Janet, she’d do something about it. We had no regrets. I enjoyed every minute of our life together.”

The two met on a blind date in 1950 when students at the University of Iowa. Janet was born June 10, 1930, at an orphanage in Kansas City, Missouri., and was adopted by a dentist and his wife, Robert and Grace Morse of Elkader. Al was a World War II veteran from Fort Dodge — later awarded the Bronze Star for heroism at the Battle of the Bulge.

“I was in law school and the only time we dated was on weekends and so it had to be the following Friday or Saturday,” Habhab recalled. “We only dated once a week. We did not have a lot of money. I was on the GI Bill at that time. We would date Friday or Saturday. Most of the time, we would attend a movie. We just considered that we were going together. I did not see anyone else and she didn’t, as I recall.”

Janet quickly added: “He remembers it differently than I do, because if I could not go, if I was unable to go, he went with someone else.”

Al responded: “I guess that is true.”

They were married three years later, on July 26, 1953, and made their home in Fort Dodge where Habhab opened his own law office.

The happiest moment of her life was when they welcomed children into their home, Habhab recalled. Robert was born in 1959 and Mary Beth in 1962, both adopted as infants from an agency in Dubuque.

“The adoption agency called and said, ‘we have a child for you, if you want him,'” he said. “Bob was 4 to 5 months old. She took one look at Bob and wouldn’t let him go. ‘No, we’ll take him now,’ she said, and literally grabbed him right out of the nurse’s arms. Those 10-15 minutes are permanently embedded in my mind and heart.

“I was in the hospital for some reason when we got the call on Mary Beth. Janet went with a friend. She came into my room the next day and said, ‘You’re a dad again.’ She wasn’t going to take any chances of anyone changing their mind.”

Bob lives in Fort Dodge and Mary Beth in Cottage Grove, Minnesota, where she’s married to Troy Burger and have two children and four grandchildren.

“I think Janet was real patient with me. Going to the Court of Appeals was a deciding moment on whether we wanted to remain in Fort Dodge or move to Des Moines,” Habhab said. “The kids were pretty well grown by then, but as you know, you’re better off moving with 3- or 4-year-old children than you are with 15- or 16-year-old kids. They need more attention and Janet was there for the kids, always. They never came home from school when she was not there for them. She took care of the home and did everything, particularly when I was in Des Moines so much. Even when I went on the bench, she was there.

“In the mayor’s office, which was a demanding job, there were endless meetings and occasions that you had to attend. She was there. She carried the burden there. I think one thing about it, she was always there for the kids. Whatever they needed, wherever they had to be, she would dress them for the occasions. Our son was a model for children’s clothing, Janet would dress him so well. Mary Beth was interested in synchronized swimming and was good at that. Bob was exceptionally good in athletics.”

The Habhabs ate out a lot in their later years. One of their favorite meals was the fried chicken at Ja-Mar. For years, they met for breakfast Sunday mornings at Village Inn with Ruth and Walt Stevens, two of their best friends.

Janet loved to play bridge and did so several times a week. She was active in PEO and with Meals on Wheels – and was a huge fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes.

“She was an avid Iowa Hawkeye football fan — we had season tickets for years — and we went down to Iowa City in snow and sleet and rain,” Habhab said. “She’d get mad at some of the calls that were made, which was completely out of character. You didn’t say anything bad about her Hawkeyes.”

The Habhabs loved to travel as a family.

“We traveled quite a bit,” he said. “We went to Hawaii, Austria and Italy. We took the kids with us. Janet had a cousin in Maine, a home on an island. We went up there. We did things together.”

On her 90th birthday, neighbor Bruce Murman said, Janet insisted that he and his wife Dee join them to celebrate the occasion.

“We shared a glass of wine and great conversation that evening, and I remember her easy smile that day,” Murman said. “However, more grand was her smile the day she returned from a stay at a very nice, local retirement/care center. While she enjoyed the card games and the company of others during her stay, she wanted so much to spend her last days at home despite all of our encouragement to do otherwise. Well, she got her wish: she died at home, peacefully, in her easy chair.”

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today