Janet Gertrude Boice Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Janet and her (fraternal) twin sister, Janice, were, as Janet would say, “born in Kickapoo Park on the Nishnabotna River in Exira, Iowa”. Their parents were Dr. Roswell H. Payne, a country doctor, and Lois G. Marshall Payne, a nurse and homemaker. They and their four other siblings thrived in the small-town Iowa farming community, and Janet and Janice both played on Exira High School’s girls’ basketball team that went to the Iowa state tournament. (Janet retained a life-long love of basketball, especially for the U of Arizona Wildcats.) College years were at Iowa State Teachers College (currently University of Northern Iowa) in Cedar Falls. Her professional teaching career spanned four decades. After retirement, as a volunteer, her smiling face graced Tucson’s public schools for another two decades. Her children experienced her teaching at home and when she taught Sunday school at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson. Janet’s first exposure to Jerry L. Boice was when she commented to a girlfriend at a Lions Club social function in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, “Well, look what the cat dragged in”, noting Jerry’s sorry-looking state. (Jerry, a merchant seaman during World War II and afterwards, had contracted tuberculosis, and had recently spent a year in a sanatorium recovering and studying accounting.) Janet got over her initial impression and married Jerry in December 1954. Janet and Jerry lived in Cedar Rapids and Creston, Iowa. In 1958, after daughter Mona was born, the family relocated to Tucson, where sons Linden and Kevin, and daughter Nancy were born. Regrettably, Jerry passed away in 1971. From then on, Janet raised her four children as a single mom. She said, “I must have done something right, because you all still speak to each other!” The closeness to her Phoenix family, i.e. brother Jack and his wife, Selma, nieces and nephews Lois & David, Susan & Peter, Jack Jr. & Cindy, Barbara & Paul, and all their offspring, and, in Tucson, Jerry’s brother & wife, Bob & Genevieve, niece Terry and her children, provided lots of support and joyful family gatherings. Vacations to Iowa, California and Oregon, as well as visits to Arizona from Janet’s other siblings, in-laws, cousins, nephews and nieces, kept the extended families close. Janet was always a very involved parent and grandmother, supporting and attending her children’s, and/or granddaughters’, scouting activities, sporting events, plays, concerts, dance recitals, and graduation ceremonies. She was much appreciated for her willingness to chauffeur her children and grandchildren and their friends, and her friends, to playdates, hiking trailheads, and other activities. She loved playing games – as part of teaching, and for her own enjoyment. She passed this love to her children. She especially liked Bridge – if it was social, not hyper-competitive! Janet is survived by sister Margaret, children Mona, Linden (Catherine), Kevin (Amy (ex.)), Nancy (Todd), grandchildren Ally, Sarah, Megan and Linnea, and many nieces and nephews and their offspring. She was preceded in death by siblings and in-laws: Janice Payne, Lois “Bette” Payne, Thomas and Beverly Payne, Jack and Selma Payne, Lyle Westcott, and Robert and Genevieve Boice. Janet “I’m a hugger!” Boice was loved by all and will be sorely missed. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.

Janet Gertrude Boice

April 13, 1928 - December 15, 2019

Obituary & Service

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Janet Gertrude Boice

April 13, 1928 - December 15, 2019

Obituary & Service

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