Janice D. Mertz

Memorials in Janice's memory will be directed to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. There is a link on the website www.missingkids.com with a tab for Donate. There is a drop down for donation in memory. A funeral Mass for Janice Mertz will be held 10:00 AM Saturday, June 6, 2015, at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in West Bend. Burial will be in the West Bend Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 PM Friday at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church, West Bend with a Scripture Prayer Service beginning at 7 PM. Janice Dolores Mertz was born December 5, 1963, in Algona, daughter of H. P. "Pete" and Dolores (Shay) Mertz. She grew up on a farm near Ottosen graduating from West Bend High School in 1982. Janice graduated from Iowa State University, Ames in 1986. After graduating from Iowa State, she worked as a Regional Revenue Manager for Hertz in Chicago, Illinois for several years. SSA Janice Mertz was appointed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a Special Agent in January 2000. Her first assignment following graduation from Quantico, Virginia was to the El Paso Division at the ...[more]

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land, Texas Resident Agency where Janice worked the criminal jurisdiction, crimes against children. In January 2006, Janice was promoted to FBI Headquarters as a Supervisory Special Agent and Program Manager in the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) Violent Crimes Against Children Unit (VCACU). Janice was then promoted to the New Orleans Division at the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Resident Agency, where she served as the Senior Supervisory Resident Agent from August 2008 - September 2010. While stationed in Baton Rouge, she maintained responsibility for the local FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force and was the Domestic Terrorism Program Coordinator for the state of Louisiana during her tenure. Following Janice's assignment in New Orleans, she returned to CID's VCACU where she was detailed to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. In May 2013, Janice was appointed to the FBI Critical Incident Response Group Division and was assigned to the elite Behavioral Analysis Unit-1for Counterterrorism, where she quickly earned a reputation as a passionate and mission focused profiler, loyal colleague and friend. In May 2015, Janice received the National Intelligence Certificate of Distinction for the Pathways to Extremist Violence. This award recognizes an individual or team's notable achievement involving a single accomplishment, at, or service of merit for sustained superior service. During her time with the FBI, Janice amassed many lifelong friendships. Janice had an easy, engaging smile and enormous heart. She was an avid reader and born organizer of people and events. Janice left the FBI and the world a better place than she found it. Janice was an avid baker. She was always making baked goods, especially cupcakes for neighbors and co-workers. Every year, especially at Christmas, her friends waited eagerly to see what treats she would bring. As passionate as Janice was about her work, she was even more so when it came to her friends and family. She had a quick wit and could make anyone smile with her easy demeanor, cards and jokes. Having no children, she cherished her nieces and nephews and loved them as if they were her own. There was never a birthday, an anniversary, a holiday that her family members didn't receive the 'perfect' card and gifts that she had the uncanny ability to find. Janice was a bright light for all those who knew her. She will be greatly missed. Janice D. Mertz died Saturday, May 30, 2015, in Alexandria, VA as a result of a motorcycle accident. She was 51. She is survived by her mother, Dolores Mertz of Algona; 2 brothers and 4 sisters, Peter Mertz and his wife Julie of Ottosen, Dr. Mary Simpson and her husband Mike of Georgetown, TX, David Mertz of Algona, Ann Cornicelli and her husband Dr. Joe of Ann Arbor, MI, Helen Powell and her husband Dr. Steven of Ocala, FL, and Carol Eischeid and her husband Mark of Algona; 11 nieces and nephews; and 5 great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her father on October 8, 1983; her maternal grandparents, John and Gertrude Shay; and her paternal grandparents, Peter and Elizabeth Mertz.