Janice Gale McCann passed peacefully into God’s presence on December 31, 2025, at the age of 76, in her Arcata home, where she wanted to be, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and her husband of 54 years.

Janice, the youngest of three girls, was born in Pomona, California, on November 5, 1949, to Robert and Rosemary Austill and moved with her family to Pleasanton, California, where she lived until she came to Humboldt State College. From an early age, she wanted to be a teacher. During her college years, she spent her summers working for the Recreation Department in her hometown, actively engaging with children. She also volunteered as a tutor while in college. She spent her junior year studying abroad in France and then toured Europe before returning home. Upon receiving her teaching credential, she taught elementary school in Freshwater for two years. While in college, Janice joined SPURS, a national honor and service group; sang in the college choir; and was a member of Campus Christian Fellowship. It was in this fellowship group that she met her future husband, Charles McCann.

Janice and Charles were married on June 12, 1971, the day after she graduated from college. She kept the promise she had made to her parents not to marry until she had graduated (because they were paying for her education). As children came, Janice put her teaching career on hold and focused her outstanding talents on her family. She was very active with her children, both in school as a classroom volunteer, as a member of the booster clubs, and by following them in sports and the band. She spent countless hours in the stands, rooting them on at baseball, softball, basketball, track and soccer games. She was a good athlete in her own right, playing church-league softball and volleyball for many years. She also consistently outperformed her husband on their frequent bowling dates.

She loved camping with her family, taking many trips over the years to Lake Selmac, Trinity Lake and many other state campgrounds in Oregon and California. She enjoyed watching her grandchildren in all their endeavors as well, attending all the dance recitals and many games across the various sports they played. Janice was creative and loved to have fun. She made every family gathering a hit with her crafts, fun foods, love for games and, most of all, her scavenger hunts. Janice cherished her loving friends, nicknamed “the M&Ms,” a community of women who faithfully did life together from the time they were young moms, to becoming grandmothers, to the many card games played in retirement.

She was purposeful and intentional in preparing her children, in practical ways, for the world beyond home. She taught them the skills of meal planning, baking, cooking, housekeeping, laundry, sewing, gardening, yard care and more. They learned to run a household and gained confidence as they entered adulthood. She even made sure each of them had their own toolbox, stocked with the tools and the knowledge to use them, before they left home.

When her youngest child began attending school, she returned to the classroom. This time, though, she served as a teacher’s aide at Arcata Elementary and Sunny Brae Middle School. Helping students one-on-one or in small groups brought her great joy. One of her duties was serving as a lunchroom monitor, and the students nicknamed her Mrs. Pickles because, when offered, she enjoyed eating the pickle slices that many of them would not.

Janice had excellent planning and organizational skills. These skills came into play when Charles became the Youth Pastor at Arcata First Baptist Church and began leading short-term youth mission trips to Baja, Mexico, to serve in orphanages. Janice planned menus, purchased all necessary food supplies, organized kitchen crews and supervised the feeding of 25 to 75 youth and adults for a week as they joined these work crews. She played a critical role in the success of these trips.

Janice was a great gift to her family, her friends and countless students whom she taught. She had a servant’s heart, was thoughtful and showed her love by her actions. Her quiet, determined love and caring spirit will be cherished by her husband, Charles McCann, and her children: Jennifer and her husband, Jason; Carrie Kelly and her husband, Justin; Shawn McCann and Erin McCann. She will be remembered affectionately by her seven grandchildren, Maddison, Jackson and Bailey Kelly, Harper and Wyatt Jones and Kaleb and Asha. Janice was preceded in death by her infant daughter, Angela McCann, her nephew, Peter Schmidt, her father, Robert Austill, her mother, Rosemary Olson and her sisters Judy King and Linda Keeton. A special thanks to the nurses and other caregivers at Providence St Joseph Hospital who lovingly cared for Janice in her final days, and to the outstanding staff at Hospice of Humboldt who displayed extraordinary sensitivity to Janice and her family.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 17th at Arcata First Baptist Church, 1700 Union Street, Arcata. Reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, please donate to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital — stjude.org/givehope.