Janice Avonelle Towns passed away peacefully at her home on Thursday, September 3, 2020, at the age of 91.
Janice Avonelle Bastian was born at home on December 31, 1928 in Lima, Ohio, the second of three children, to Jay W. and Edith (Now) Bastian, who preceded her in death. She attended Horace Mann grade school and Elida High School in Elida, OH. She was an avid softball player, enjoyed track and field, and loved to ice skate when she was younger. Janice and her two brothers loved going to baseball games with their parents as a favorite family outing. Like her mother, Janice was musically inclined from a young age and became accomplished at the alto saxophone, accordion, piano, and organ. She and her mother were both a large part of their church’s musical programs. After graduating from high school, Janice attended Olivet Nazarene College in Illinois where she joined up with Dick who started college a year earlier, and she studied the New Testament. She worked for a short time as a bookkeeper for Pillsbury Mills in Lima, OH.
On October 29, 1949, she married Richard (Dick) Towns who preceded her in death on August 13, 2018, after 68 years of marriage. The two “dated” since the fifth grade. To this union, five children, Darlene, Kevin, Kurt, Kent, and Kyle were born. Together in the early 1960’s, Dick and Janice built a beautiful brick home on five acres in Ohio. In 1972 she and Dick moved their young family to Wyoming. Raising five kids and being a homemaker was the joy of her life.
She was well read and very knowledgeable when it came to health and nutrition, and she maintained an extensive health library. She enjoyed gardening and was a member of Family Worship Center Church.
She is survived by her sons Kevin (Jody) of Oxford, KS, Kurt (Judy) of Casper, WY, Kent (Cami) of Kalispell, MT and Kyle (Paula) of Riverton, WY, three grandchildren, Jessica (Andrew), Kurtis (Dawn), and Kortney (Bryan) and seven great grandchildren Mariah, Hailey, Aden, Sarah, Rebel, Knoxx, and Nash. She is survived by several nieces and nephews including her special niece, Dana Packwood.
She was preceded in death by her husband Dick, daughter Darlene, her parents, and her brothers Keith Bastian and Milo “Mike” Bastian.
Cremation has taken place, and as she wished, no services will be held. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Frontier Hospice (Lander, WY), Riverton Senior Citizens Center (Riverton, WY), or Family Worship Center Church (Baton Rouge, LA).