Janice Rae (Thompson) NICHOLSEN

NICHOLSEN, THOMPSON, NELSON, POPP, SCHERZINGER, ABBAS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/22/2011 at 18:12:34

June 28, 1932 --- September 23, 2011

Janice Rae Nicholsen, 79, of Scottsdale, AZ passed away September 23, 2011 at Friendship Village-Hospice of the Valley, Tempe, AZ. A remembrance celebration will be held at 11:00 AM, Oct. 5, 2011 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, 3641 N. 56th Street, Phoenix. Interment of her cremains will be on Monday, October 17, 2011 at 11:00 am at New Amsterdam Township Cemetery, Kanawha, Iowa.

Janice (Thompson) Nicholsen, the daughter of Abraham Thompson and Cora (Nelson) Thompson, was born June 28, 1932, in rural Kanawha, Iowa. She graduated from Clarion High School, Iowa. Jan’s professional career included work and business ownership in the areas of business management, accounting and computer systems in Iowa; Eugene and Sisters, Oregon; and Scottsdale and Sedona, Arizona. Jan was a very successful business woman and an expert office manager and did all her own financial planning and financial investments. Jan was a member of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church and recently served on the Arizona Department of Health Infection Prevention and Control Advisory Committee, the Arizona Health Care patient advocacy board and appointments by the Scottsdale health care system for pulmonary care. She was a loyal supporter and longtime season ticket holder of the Arizona Theater and Ballet. She also was self-educated in building design and landscape architecture. She loved desert plants, art, and creatures of all kinds. She tailored her own wardrobe. Janice had a profound way with words, and her beautiful Christmas letters were admired and appreciated by many. She also had a strong faith and once wrote that her survivors should “Rejoice! My journey on earth has ended-- I am going to a better place…”

Jan is survived by her brother Tom (Elsa) Thompson, Ames, IA; sister M. Ruth (Stephen) Popp, Portland, OR; three nieces; six nephews and dear friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Esther Thompson, Inez Scherzinger and Alice Abbas; brother Abe Thompson; and three nephews. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jan’s name to Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Phoenix or Hospice of the Valley, Phoenix.