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WARWICK, R.I. - Janice Percie (Butterfield) Di Franco died on July 13, 2019 at the age of 91, in Warwick, R.I. Born in Winterport on Sept. 2, 1927, she was the daughter of Dr. Percival Ruel Butterfield and Emma (Wight) Butterfield of Augusta.
A graduate of Cony High School and University of Maine, class of 1950, her first job was with the Maine State Library, the institution that went on to encourage and mentor her to enter into the library profession. In 1952, she received her Master of Library Science degree from Simmons College in Boston. Following graduation, she accepted a call to serve as a special services librarian with the United States Army, serving in Bremerhaven, Frankfurt am Main, and Darmstadt, Germany. During this period she met and married her husband, Wihelm Mages, and in 1958, the couple made their home in the Boston area.
Following his untimely death just a year later, she returned home to Maine and continued in the employ of the Maine State Library where she worked in various positions. In 1964 she accepted an offer from the City of Warwick, R.I. to help open a new library that was just being built on Sandy Lane. It was during this period that she married Victor P. Di Franco.
Initially working out of a space no larger than a closet, Janice took great pleasure in seeing the new library go up. She put a lot of energy into the building up of both the staff and the collection. By the time she retired in 1990, she had become the deputy director of the Warwick Public Library. Aside from serving the public and seeing her staff reach their full potential, one of her proudest achievements was establishing the Rhode Island Film cooperative.
Janice was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her brother, Ruell Wight Butterfield.
She is survived by her nieces, Kimberly Kay Kahn, J. Stacey Butterfield, and Cathy Pizzo, as well as nephews, Arthur Di Franco, Stuart Butterfield, and Jon Di Franco, and their descendants.
A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, July 27 at Twining Cemetery, Winterport, Maine.
Donations in her memory may be made to the well-wisher's no-kill animal shelter of choice.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
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