Janice Louise Prince Washburn

Janice Louise Prince Washburn Janice Louise Prince Washburn, 90, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, passed away on April 21, 2017, at Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation, Florida. She was a wonderful role model and a loving mother and grandmother, in addition to being a generous church member and community servant. Her memorial service, to be held at Plantation Community Church, is being postponed until July 9, 2:00 PM when relatives living out of state and overseas can gather to celebrate her homegoing. Reverend Ray Fowler of Plantation Community Church will officiate, and T. M. Ralph Plantation Funeral Home will handle the arrangements. Janice “Jan” Prince was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, on October 13, 1926. She graduated from Brockton High School in 1943 and went on to earn a degree in English from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, in 1947. Jan taught English and German at Everglades Junior High School and at South Broward High School for a number of years. During this time, she had the privilege of translating documents for Holocaust victims applying for reparations from the German government. After leaving the teaching profession, she worked her way up from a low-level word processing job at Southeast Bank to Vice President of Human Resources. Jan enjoyed golfing, bowling, reading, playing Scrabble, and doing crossword puzzles. Watching TiVo’d episodes of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune were part of her daily routine. She sang in the choir, played handbells, and until the day she died, served as Financial Secretary at Plantation Community Church, where she and husband Jack were among the earliest members. Jan served her community for decades by giving leadership to the Broadview Park Civic Association, teaching children to swim, and doing adult literacy tutoring. Jan loved to travel, and she spent many summers camping and RV’ing around the country with her best friend and husband, Jack. She was a gifted writer, having published four novels and numerous poems, short stories, and articles. She was active in the South Florida chapter of Romance Writers of America where she encouraged and assisted aspiring young writers. Jan’s strong sense of social justice, her family background in politics, and her knack for putting her personal convictions into words compelled her to speak truth to power through advocating in person or writing letters to key decision makers. These contributions made a powerful impact in the passing or modification of numerous local laws and regulations. Jan Washburn is survived by her children: Linda (Gerald) Becker of Parkland, Florida; Heather (David) Tarpley of Little Rock, Arkansas; and John Washburn of Texas; her grandchildren: Megan Becker King, Stacey Becker, Gerald Becker III, Gregory Becker, Kurt Tarpley, Kyle Tarpley, and Laura Grace Tarpley Jones; her nieces and nephews: Thomas Prince, Richard Prince, Diane Prince Shages, Stephen Prince, Jane Prince, Nicholas DeLollis, Michael DeLollis, Lisa DeLollis Metropoulos, Bonney Prince, Douglas Prince, Laurie Prince, Corey Prince, Douglas Prince, Robert Prince, Frederic Washburn, Leslie Washburn, and Douglas Washburn; her sisters-in-law: Geneva Prince, Marjorie Prince, and Florence Prince; and her brother-in-law, Frederic Washburn, and his wife Myrna. Jan is preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, John Roger Washburn; by her parents, Thomas Wallace Prince and Louise Attwood Prince; and by her brothers and sister: Thomas Prince, Robert Prince, Dorothea Prince DeLollis, Douglas Prince, Phillip Prince, and Richard Prince. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Plantation Community Church, 6501 West Broward Boulevard, Plantation, Florida 33317.