Janice Jones

Janice Jones, 57, of Durham, N.C., passed away peacefully at Duke Regional Hospital on Sept. 19, 2025, following a stroke.

Janice was born in Scranton on March 3, 1968, and was brought home to her adoptive parents April 4. Janice grew up in Forty Fort and attended Wyoming Seminary grades K-12, graduating in the spring of 1986. Janice received a Bachelor of Arts in geology and environmental studies from Oberlin College (Ohio) in 1990. It was there that Janice met Tom Transue. In the spring of 1991, Janice was admitted to Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) Master of Public Policy program in Bloomington, Indiana. Ultimately, a more important result of this time was falling in love with Akitas, dog training, and meeting lifelong friend, Cynthia King, who, with her daughter, Eleanor, is chosen family.

In February 1996, Janice and Tom moved to Belgium for his work, but they used the geographical challenge to plan and have their wedding on June 22, 1996, at Janice's parents' farm in Hunlock Creek.

In the spring of 1999, Janice and Tom moved to Durham, N.C., where Tom pursued a second post-doctoral fellowship. In the summer of 2000, Janice and Tom bought and began renovating a 1920 four-square American craftsman-style house, which soon became a labor of love for both of them. Janice quickly embraced communities of preservation, neighborhood improvement, preschools, and schools, bringing thoughtful, careful wisdom as to how to set and achieve goals with each, rarely with any interest in getting paid or getting credit. The love of her boys (Owen, born 2004, and Simon, born 2008) and dozens of other kids led her to pour endless energy into making their individual and collective lives better.

In her final years, one could say that Janice had succeeded in life, and the lives of everyone she touched became more successful and enjoyable. Janice would have wanted everyone to carry on, do good things (especially for children), and not fret that she is gone. She did it for us, and accepted credit in her quiet way.

Janice was preceded in death by parents, Robert L. and Marcella "Marcie" A. (Kozmoski) Jones, Sweet Valley.

She is survived by husband, Thomas "Tom" R. Transue; sons, Owen R. and Simon R. Transue (Durham, N.C.); sister, Jennifer Jones, and her life partner, David Rittenhouse, Upper Dublin; and birth parents and half siblings.

A memorial and celebration of Janice's life will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, in Durham, North Carolina. All are welcome; visit janice.jonestransue.net for details. Janice's ashes and those of four dogs will be interred in Maine in the summer of 2026.

Donations to the Durham Public Schools Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to directly helping Durham Public Schools and/or the Fort O'Brien School in Machiasport, Maine, would honor Janice's memory.

Durham Public Schools Foundation

600 E Umstead Street

Durham NC 27701

Phone: 919-200-0017

https://www.bullcityschools.org/

Fort O'Brien School

492 Port Road

Machiasport, ME 04655

Phone: 207-255-4575

https://www.donorschoose.org/schools/maine/aos-96/ft-o-brien-elementary-school/65660