Janice Velma Parkinson Bernard passed away peacefully on Feb. 9. She was born on March 1, 1934, to kind and loving parents, Royden and Hilda Parkinson near Selkirk, Mich., in a log cabin which her parents built. After brother, Richard “Dick,” was born, her family moved several times until her father purchased a farm in Hale, Mich., around 1949. Hale became Janice’s beloved home for nearly 60 years.
At 18 years old, Janice met Lyle Bernard who was on military furlough. With only one date behind them, he wooed her with letters from camp. One letter contained a photo of Lyle in uniform. “That was the man I fell in love with,” she remembered. The couple married on July 16, 1952, and two children, Lynn and Bill, followed. Janice and Lyle’s lifelong union was the source of her greatest joys in life–her happy marriage, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and combined extended families. Janice was a champion of her loved ones, followed their pastimes and relished in their pleasures and successes until the final days of her life.
Janice’s first job was at the Schofield Insurance company in Hale. As a young mother, she worked in their family-owned restaurant. Later, she worked at Hale Elementary School. She was an avid reader and can be credited for organizing the school’s first library. Then, she enrolled in beauty school, opened a beauty shop and gift shop which, among other things, sold Lyle’s handmade crafts. She ran both businesses until her retirement in 1993. But by far, Janice’s favorite job was that of grandmother. She was a hands on, no holds barred grandmother who was all about her grandchildren. They still comment on how important they felt in her presence, and how she loved them “a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.”
Janice devoted many of her retirement years to lovingly caring for Lyle during his prolonged Alzheimer’s illness until his death in 2005. During this time she suffered a major stroke. She moved to Pinedale in 2007, setting up residence in the Sublette Center, her home for 17 years. In Pinedale she made many friends who enjoyed her beautiful smile and sharp wit. Janice loved people, visits from friends and family, and the opportunity to offer advice (welcome or not) to the young Sublette Center employees who compassionately cared for her over the years.
Throughout her lifetime, Janice held membership in the United Methodist and St. Paul’s Lutheran churches in Hale, Mich., worshiping with the Parkinson and Bernard families respectively. In 2014, she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and was later sealed to Lyle for time and all eternity in the Provo, Utah Temple.
She is preceded in death by her father, mother and brother. She is survived by sons Lynn (Melissa) and William (Pam); grandchildren Ashley Cooke, Crista Means (Randell), Royden (Traci Giffore), Caitlyn, Spencer (Annie), and Sawyer; great-grandchildren Stevan, Joshua, Elizabeth, Almina and Avery; sister-in-law Sherrill Parkinson Milliron, and many nieces and nephews whom she loved dearly. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Sublette Center of Pinedale, Wyoming.
