Jeanette R. Soto

March 31, 1942 - November 18, 2024.

Jeanette was born on March 31, 1942, at Saint John's Hospital in Anderson, Indiana to Murvel C. and Martha M. (Petry) Lightfoot and is the oldest (by two minutes) of her twin sister Jeanine. The two remained very close throughout their lives.

Jeanette graduated from Wendell L. Wilkie High School in Elwood Indiana and attended college at Ball State University. She married the love of her life, Edelmiro “Eric” Soto, on February 14, 1962, in the Catholic Chapel at Donaldson AFB in Greenville, South Carolina.

She was a natural leader and successful businesswoman; owner and operator of Soto’s Keypunch and Infotronics post-secondary school. She was a pillar in the community and helped bridge many of her students into their future career opportunities. Jeanette and Eric raised their family in North Vernon, Indiana until 1985 when they moved to Florida where Jeanette then worked for Hernando County Government for over 20 years before retiring in 2008.

Jeanette had a big heart for helping people and was an encourager like no other. She always found ways to bring out the best in people. She was one of the most thoughtful and generous persons one could ever hope to know or meet. We were proud to call her sister, mother, grandma, aunt, friend, sister-in-the-Lord, and most assuredly a child of the most-high God.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband Eric, parents, and baby brother (Billy Lee), several aunts and uncles, and a great-granddaughter (Brianna who was stillborn). Jeanette is survived by her twin sister Jeanine Kaye (Lightfoot) Heard, her two sons Christopher and Lance, two daughters Martha and Rhonda, eight grandchildren: Matthew, Nathaniel, Jason, Thaddeus, Jordan, Dustin, Nicholas, Christina, several nieces and nephews and seventeen great-grandchildren:

Jaxson, Mila, Ava, Tristan, Asher (Matthew Booker)

Kamran, Kaiden, Kash, Kruz (Nathaniel & Danica Booker)

Uriah, Jason, Aiden, Aryanna, Brianna/stillborn (Jason Booker)

Ansley, Anniston, Andrew (Thaddeus & Tiffany Klenovich )

She was a member of Grace World Outreach Church (Formerly Brooksville Assembly of God) where she and her husband Eric were very active. She was a member of the Republican Stars.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, between 3:00 - 6:00 p.m., at Northcliffe Church, 10515 Northcliffe Blvd., Spring Hill, FL 34608. Light refreshments will be served.

Interment will be at a later date when she will be laid to rest beside her husband at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida, in a private ceremony for family.

In lieu of flowers, please consider giving to the Special Olympics or other organizations to help children with special needs in honor of Jeanette.