Janice Hope (Holland) Boucher

Janice Hope Holland Boucher
May 27, 1929 - September 12, 2023

Janice Hope Holland Boucher, 94, was born to Edna Lott Holland and Alwin George Holland at midnight between May 26 and May 27, 1929 in Iron Mountain, Michigan, second of five children. Her mother chose May 27 as her legal birthdate. In 1944, at the age of 15, her family moved to Marin County, California, where she graduated from Tamalpais Union High School. She took a summer job at the Yosemite Lodge as a waitress, and it was there she met the love of her life, Gwynne Harrison Boucher, who worked as a salad maker. Janice and Gwynne eloped to Santa Cruz on April 7, 1949, during Janice’s Easter vacation. Janice returned to Larkspur after a three day honeymoon to finish her second year at College of Marin. She then joined Gwynne in Yosemite and they set up housekeeping in a tent cabin in Camp Curry until they resigned and moved to San Diego to resume their college studies.

Little more than a year later, they were blessed with a son, Jeffrey Gwynne, in 1950. From 1952-1960, the family lived in San Diego and Los Angeles where their daughter, Anne Lynn, was born in 1954. Shortly thereafter they moved to Santa Barbara where they were just five minutes from the beach and lived in a small complex of buildings that had once been stables and tack rooms for horses in WWI as an army and cavalry post. Gwynne’s work with the State Department required moves throughout Southern California until in 1964 they moved to Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a small town outside St. Paul. There Janice completed her degree in elementary education, graduating with high distinction from the University of Minnesota in 1969. The family took up skiing, spending weekends in their rustic two room Lutsen, Minnesota cabin.

Over the years, Janice taught first and second grades in North St. Paul, Minnesota, Caracas, Venezuela, Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and Lima, Peru. It was one of Janice’s many, but proudest, accomplishments that all her students became able readers and most loved math.

Upon Gwynne’s retirement from the Foreign Service in 1976, the Bouchers retired to their cabin in Lutsen, where they assisted in the construction of a small home (complete with indoor plumbing!) adjacent to their aging cabin. There the couple enjoyed 15 years of skiing, grouse hunting, photography and camping and canoeing in the Boundary Waters. There they embarked on their first joint mountain bike adventure, pedaling from Orlando, Florida to Duluth, Minnesota. In 1991 they made the decision to trade the northwoods for the inviting climate of Sierra Vista, where they continued to pursue bicycle feats including San Diego to Sierra Vista; Sierra Vista to St. Augustine, Florida and logging thousands of miles in Europe, all self-contained (without the benefit of outside support). Janice swept the 1999 National Senior Games, representing the State of Arizona in bicycle competition held in Orlando, winning gold in the 40k, bronze in both the 20k and 5k and a 4th place in the 10k, in the 70-74 age group.

Janice’s love of reading led to service on the Library Advisory Commission of the new Sierra Vista Public Library, memorialized in the library entry. Janice was a lifelong Democrat and served the party in several capacities. Janice learned to play cribbage at the age of eight and was a formidable opponent. She was a member of the Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church. Toward the end of her adventurous life, Janice entered Casa de la Paz Hospice where she received tremendous and compassionate care.

Janice is survived by her husband of 74 years, Gwynne H. Boucher of Sierra Vista, Arizona; son Jeffrey G. Boucher (Denise) of Mammoth Lakes, California; daughter Anne Boucher Shrake (Thomas) of Reno, Nevada; grandchildren Robert Shrake (Alexandra), of Reno, Nevada; Kathryn Hope Acuna (Jose) of Reno, Nevada; Mariah Parkinson (Zack) of Denver, Colorado; and four great grandchildren: Amelia, Cole, Corbin & Eloise, all of Reno, Nevada.

A memorial service is planned for November 11, 2023, 2:00 pm, at Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church, 4533A, N. Commerce Drive, Sierra Vista. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations be directed to Doctors Without Borders or the Sky Island Unitarian Universalist Church.

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