Janice Waggoner

I have been a writer for 50 of my 71 years, but how to write something about the woman with whom I spent 45 years is not the easiest task I've ever performed.

My beloved Jan passed away Friday morning suddenly, leaving a gaping hole in my life and those of the four children she bore, the eight grandchildren she fawned over, the three brothers and numerous nieces and nephews who adored her and uncounted patients she served in 30 years of service as a registered nurse at St. Joseph Hospital.

She was born June 9, 1936, in Ottumwa, Ia. to George and Pauline Magrane. She graduated from Ottumwa High School and went directly into nursing school in Ottumwa.

The suddenness of her death caught all of us unaware. She never complained of being sick. In fact, she has nursed me through years of heart problems and other complications as well as supporting us through her final years as a nurse. Unfortunately for all of us, she wouldn't see a doctor since she retired in 2001. I wonder somehow if she perhaps knew this was coming. She always said she wanted to pass quickly and told me never to allow her to be put on life support or be placed in a nursing home. She passed quickly, the way she wanted.

No one ever took her working life more seriously than Jan. She was the ultimate healer, both with knowledge and genuine concern for her patients. She also helped many young nurses to learn the proper way to care for patients as well as being the driving force for her team on the surgical floor at St. Joseph.

She also knew how to put others in their place. I used to come home and complain about typographical errors, a misuse of a verb or some such mistake made in the paper. After suffering through my complaints for years she finally silenced me. "When you make a mistake there is a typographical error. When I make a mistake someone could die." I never again complained about my work.

Jan was the matriarch of the Waggoner family. She was the boss, the healer when we were sick, the babysitter for the grandkids, and tutor for the grandkids, mother confessor and counselor for the kids. Those were just side jobs in addition to nursing, cleaning, washing and cooking. And could she cook! Jan was a voracious reader, 3-4 books a week. Our children have sacked 3-4 garbage sacks full of books to get rid of. She worked for hours on her sudoku puzzles, could put a thousand piece puzzle together faster than just about anyone and could shop with the best. There was a time, earlier in our lives, when she always could party with the best. She loved being with people and could tell jokes well. That seems to be a prerequisite for doctors and nurses. She always remembered them, came home and told me, but I rarely remembered them.

She loved to travel and constantly harped at me for driving the interstate highways and never getting off on the side roads. She said she wanted to see things besides the insides of restrooms along the freeways. Jan never was a big sports fan, especially being married to a sportswriter, but enjoyed going to the games and mingling with people. She enjoyed the parties we attended at bowl games and such. That does not mean she did not know the sports.

She had two brothers who played college football and coached, one nephew who played major league baseball for eight years and another nephew who is still playing and trying to make the majors. She put up with me and all my traveling when a lesser woman might have showed me the door. When I retired early she knew I was going to watch all the games on TV. I guess I drove her to the books and sudoku but she said she was keeping her mind sharp. It always was sharp as a tack.

She was one of those rare persons who were everything to all people. God has called home a great right hand gal. Bless her for all the blessings she gave to all she touched.

Jan is survived by husband Jerry, son Kevin, daughter Stacy Flores, twins Kelly Waggoner and Kris Clifford, brother George Magrane of Ottumwa, Iowa, brother Jerry of Ottumwa, Ia., brother David of Morehouse, Ky., and eight grandchildren. They include Leah Flores, 15, Sean Clifford 13, Sara Flores 11, Tyler Waggoner, 10, Jacob Waggoner 10, Angela Flores 9, Jordan Waggoner 8, and Matt Clifford, 7. There are also numerous nieces and nephews.

Services will be held 1pm, Thursday, March 1, 2007 at Hillier Funeral Home in Bryan with Monsignor John Malinowski officiating. Interment will follow in Bryan City Cemetery. The visitation will be from 6pm to 8pm this evening and from noon-1pm Thursday at the funeral home.

Memorials may be made to the St. Joseph Foundation, P.O. Box 993, Bryan, TX 77805-9936 or Hospice Brazos Valley, 502 W. 26th St., Bryan, TX 77803.

Hillier Funeral Home

hillierfuneralhome.com