James, Janice Eichhorn Read

Janice Eichhorn Read James passed away in her home in Canby, Ore., Thursday evening, April 12, 2012. Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Friday, April 20, at Claybar Kelley-Watkins Chapel in Beaumont, Texas. Interment will follow at Haven of Rest Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

Janice was born July 29, 1924, to Fred F. Eichhorn and Mildred (Steward) Eichhorn at the Eichhorn Farm, Labette County, Kan.

Mrs. James graduated from LCCHS (Labette County Community High School) and attended one year of junior college in Parsons, Kan. She worked for a time during World War II at the North American Bomber Plant in Kansas City. She married Arden E. Read on Nov. 28, 1943. He was a mortician/funeral director, who died April 10, 1954, in York, Neb. To that union was born a girl and four boys who survive.

She moved back to Kansas to live with her parents and built a home in Altamont, Kan. She worked for a time at Berry Garment Co. in Oswego, then as City Clerk of Altamont for 17 years. In 1972, she moved to Greensburg, Kan., to be city clerk. She resigned when she married Robert L. James in 1974. In 1983, she returned to work at the Kiowa County Courthouse in the Registrar of Deeds office and later transferred to the County Clerk's office. She retired in 1995.

Bob and Janice James moved to Beaumont, Texas in 2001. He died Sept. 12, 2004. After his death, she moved to Wauconda, Ill., then to Newburgh, Ind., and finally to Canby, Ore. She was a member of First Baptist Church, Greensburg, Kan., and was a certified city clerk of Kansas. For many years, she had a small business “Janice's Paper Pieces” and she quilled wedding invitations. She also helped her husband in their “Hi-Vue Inc” satellite business in Pratt, Kan.

She is survived by Terry and Becky Bradfield (daughter) of Molalla, Ore.; sons, Dr. Arden E. Read of Beaumont, Texas, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Read of Lebanon, Ill., Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Read of Bristol, Va., and Dr. and Mrs. Ronn Read of Wauconda, Ill.; stepsons, Drs. Jeff and Penny James of Newburgh, Ind., Mr. and Mrs. John James of Enid, Okla., and Dr. and Mrs. Jim James of Eaton, Colo.; 23 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and sister, Kathleen Freeman of Bartlesville, Okla.

She was a strong, Christian woman and an amazing mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church, 200 W. Kansas Ave., Greensburg, KS 67054.

Published April 19, 2012 in The Gazette