Janice Robertson

(From Parker Mortuary)

Janice O’Donnell Robertson, age 77, Joplin, passed away on April 26, 2018, in Galena, Kansas.

Janice was born in Joplin on July 8, 1940, daughter of the late Paul Robert and Frances Cremin “Babe” O’Donnell. She graduated from McAuley High School in 1958, where she was basketball homecoming queen. She married her husband, the late Malcolm Lee Robertson, on April 6, 1968, and they remained happily married for forty-nine years. Janice earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Missouri Southern State College and a Masters degree in Education from Southwest Missouri State University. She worked as an elementary school teacher in Joplin for twenty-one years, teaching at Jefferson, McKinley, Cecil Floyd and Columbia elementary schools.

Janice loved spending time with family and friends. She was socially active, participating in numerous organizations including the Friends of St. Avips, Western Jasper County Mental Health Association Board of Directors, Women of Rotary, St. John’s Hospital Auxiliary, Joplin National Education Association, Gifted Association of America, Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and Phi Delta Kappa. With her friends she enjoyed being part of book, movie and travel clubs as well as participating in hiking, biking and dinner groups. She was a Mo-Kan Area Scout Leader, Boys’ Club soccer coach, co-founder of the Junior Joplin Track Club, American Cancer Society Reach-to-Recovery volunteer, and deacon at the First Presbyterian Church.

Janice was an adventurous soul, traveling extensively throughout the United States as well as to over thirty other countries, including Greece, Norway, China, and Kenya. She loved vacationing with her family at Paint Rock Lodge in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming. When she turned fifty she started backpacking in Wyoming and, at age seventy, she bicycled across Missouri on the Katy Trail. Janice was the embodiment of selfless love, a woman who devoted much of her life’s energy to the well-being of family and friends. Her door was always open, she was always ready with an attentive ear, and she found deep satisfaction in organizing and hosting family reunions and holiday gatherings. She prized community and worked hard to bring people together. Janice will be remembered for her empathetic nature, her joyous spirit, her unending curiosity, and her passionate heart.

Janice is survived by her children, Michael Robertson and wife Keija Parssinen of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Catherine Sloan and husband Jason of Joplin; her six grandchildren, Haley, Nick, Connor and Kate Sloan, and Malcolm and Ronan Robertson; her younger siblings, Pat O’Donnell and wife Hope of Tucson, Arizona, Sharon Havens and partner Renee Buck of Granby, Teresa Jones and husband Steve of Joplin, and Brian O’Donnell of Joplin; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Joplin, with Reverend John Oerter officiating. The family will receive friends following the service in John Knox Hall at the church.

Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Parker Mortuary. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association and Amnesty International. The family would also like to offer a special thank you to the staff at Galena Nursing Center and Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice for their compassionate care.