Janie Trice Whitten lived a life full of prayer, love, family, friends, and – always – laughter. She passed away on August 28, 2022 from complications of dementia, in her home in Fairview Texas where she had lived for almost 50 years.
Mary Jane (Janie) Trice was born on December 14, 1945 in Corpus Christi, Texas, the fourth of five children in George and Sybil Trice’s loud, rambunctious, fiercely loving Irish Catholic family. They spent time together often throughout their lives and regaled their children with stories about their youth – 25 cent movies, running away from home, “Sassy Sisters” performances and many more. She attended Incarnate Word Academy, an all-girls Catholic school at the time, and her classmates Grace, Jane and Sharon remained her lifelong best friends.
Shortly after Janie graduated high school in 1964, her sister Georgene and brother-in-law Dale set her up on a blind date with Dale’s co-worker who had just graduated college and moved to town. He was tall and skinny, had a West Texas drawl and drove a 1962 red Dodge Lancer. She was hooked. She married David Whitten in December 1965, two weeks after her 20th birthday. They moved to Beloit, Wisconsin, where Janie saw snow for the first time, and they started their family. Rather than spend another winter in Wisconsin with two children under the age of two, David came home from an out-of-town work trip and saw a “For Sale” sign in his front yard. That’s when he discovered he was moving back to Texas and needed to find a job.
They lived briefly in Houston before moving to Buda for David’s job at Texas Instruments. Another baby came along, and TI transferred them to the Dallas area. They found a house that was just far enough away from the Big City, had 2 more sons and Janie spent over thirty years raising her own loud, rambunctious, fiercely loving Irish Catholic family. They were founding members of St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Allen, where Janie attended mass every day. She had church friends, neighborhood friends, pokino, bridge, craft and cookie club friends. She volunteered at church and school as much as she could and lived the Erma Bombeck quote (placed prominently on her refrigerator): “If a woman’s place is in the home, why am I always in the car?” In the days before cell phones, she spent many hours driving kids to practices, rehearsals, games, recitals, performances, lessons and other various events. She almost never forgot to them pick up. She made it a point to be home with a snack ready after school so she could hear all about the school day and loved being the house where all the kids could hang out.
Two years after her youngest son graduated high school her first granddaughter was born, and Janie received her longed-for promotion from “Mom” to “Nana.” When she gained four grandchildren in nine days, her children asked her to please back off a little on her prayers for more, God was listening too closely! It was her greatest joy to have her children and grandchildren living close by and she never got tired of going to even more games, recitals, performances, and other events.
She and David had an amazing group of neighborhood friends with whom they could travel, eat dinner and celebrate their empty nest season of life. Her “church ladies” supported her spiritually and emotionally for many decades, and their frequent post-mass brunches were a time she treasured. In more recent years and with her memory quickly fading, she told her family and friends as often as she could how much she loved them and how blessed she was to spend time with them. Everyone in the neighborhood recognized her when David took her for walks in her wheelchair. They set out chairs along the road for David to rest and would come out and talk to them, and these small acts of kindness were such a blessing.
Janie loved God, her family, a good book (bad and mediocre books would do too), chocolate, and Peter Sellers’ Pink Panther movies. She never met a stranger nor a cause that wasn’t deserving of even just a few dollars. Her best qualities are present in her life’s work and her most amazing accomplishments, her grandchildren. Ellie and Finlay have her compassion; Abby has her impeccable fashion sense and easy laugh; Claire and Zach have her outgoing and friendly personality; Aidan has her unwavering moral compass; Grace has her determination and big heart; James has her love of music; Jack has her big, beautiful smile; and her newest granddaughter Elizabeth Jane has her name.
Janie is survived by her husband of 56 years, David; her daughter Megan and her husband (Kyle) and children (Finlay, Claire and Aidan); her daughter Sara Jane and her husband (Jim) and children (Ellie, Abby and Grace); her son Jake and his wife (Becca) and son (Zach); and her son Jordan and his wife (Erica) and children (James, Jack and Eliza); almost 200 in-laws, nieces, nephews, and great and great-great nieces and nephews; and countless more friends. She is preceded in death by her parents (George and Sybil), siblings (Jack, JoAnn, Georgene and James), and her son Zach.
A Rosary Service will be held Wednesday, August 31 at 6:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Allen, Texas, with visitation immediately following from 6:30-8:00 p.m.
Funeral Mass will be held Thursday, September 1 at 10:00 am at St. Jude’s Catholic Church in Allen, followed by Rite of Committal at the gravesite at Ridgeview Memorial Park, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas and reception at St. Jude’s.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Janie’s name to St Jude’s Catholic Church.
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