Eder Insights: Employee Spotlight for Janet Scheffel

    “Today was my last day at Eder Flag. I originally started in a temporary position and ended up having a permanent position with the company. In June, it would have been 12 years. I think I’ll miss the people and the culture here the most. Five years ago, I was battling breast cancer and needed chemotherapy and a mastectomy. My normal schedule was chemo on Thursdays and some shots over the weekend to build up my white blood cell count. The Friday after my treatments, I’d be freezing, and no matter what, I couldn’t get warm. By Monday, I would be sick as a dog. Eder carved out an office space for me close to the reception desk and away from everyone else, since my immune system was weak. If I wasn’t feeling well, it was never an issue. On one of the Fridays after my chemo, I was freezing, and our receptionist went out into the pouring rain and bought me a blanket to keep me warm. She went out into the rain because she knew what I was dealing with, and I still have it too. I’ve worked a lot of jobs, and I’m not sure any of my previous employers would have been as caring as the people at Eder were.”

     “Now that I’m retiring a goal of mine is to turn in a family photo to either the Andersonville National Cemetery or The Historical Society in Tama, Iowa. The photo is of my third great uncle in his Civil War uniform. My great grandma had the photo in her root cellar and I inherited the photo after she passed away. Other than his name being Simon, no one knew who he was, and it took a lot of genealogy work to find him. He was mustered out of Iowa but was captured during the battle of Shiloh during the Civil War. Unfortunately, he died in a prison camp before the prison exchange in October 1862. He has since been re-interred at Andersonville National Cemetery. I have nobody to pass the photo onto and hopefully they’ll be able to use it.”

Janet has recently published “Null and Void: Book 1 of the Last Kitsune” and is in the midst of writing the second book now.

Eder Flag would like to wish Janet a happy retirement and success in whatever comes next.