Janine (Jan) Frances Boyd, age 71, passed away on her birthday, February 11, 2022.  We know she has finally been reunited in heaven with her beloved mother and father, Teresa and John Boyd and her brothers Brad (Vince) and Dennis Boyd.  She is survived by her loving children, Kristin McBride (Steve) and Sean Ross (Jessica), four grandchildren Bridget, Molly, Myles, and Kennedie, her brothers and sisters Sharon Benz (John), Sandra Jansen (Jim), Gary Boyd (Joan), countless nieces and nephews, and friends and extended family across the US and Australia.  She will be happy to know that her favorite pup Mojito will be living the good life in Colorado with Sean’s family and their two dogs.  Her newest edition, Holly, a calico she had been wanting for years will be joining Kristin’s family where she will have another kitty sister and is finding out what life with a greyhound is like.

Shortly after Jan was born in Garfield Heights, Ohio, her family moved to Brookfield, IL where she developed a life-long love of the Chicago Bears.  She loved to recount the tales of her childhood adventures to her kids, including how her mother would chase the 5 kids around the house with raw liver; her trips into Chicago with her best friend Wendy, by themselves, while they were still in grade school; driving around the city on the back of a boyfriend’s motorcycle with no helmet; and how she got bloodied hands from a nun with a ruler at school because she chucked an ice ball at a boy’s head at the bus stop.  The horrified looks on her children’s faces was always accompanied with a “But you shouldn’t do that” as a warning. 

After a brief thought she would become a nun, a decision her children greatly appreciate, she decided as a young girl that nursing was a passion she wanted to pursue.  She attended St. Barbara’s School in Brookfield and then moved to the all-girls Nazareth Academy, graduating high school in 1969. After graduating from Marquette University with an RN four years later, she married William Ross and began her long nursing career, eventually settling in Buffalo Grove, IL.  She returned to school earning her MSN from the University of Northern Illinois in DeKalb where she would sometimes bring her kids, who got easily car sick, on the long drive to the college to study or research at the library, likely not an enjoyable time for anyone.  After working as a NICU nurse for many years, she moved into management, first as a nurse manager, and then into hospital administration at Children’s Hospital of Chicago.  In 1988 the family moved to Orange County, CA where she served as Hospital Administrator at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo before joining Kaiser Permanente for the remainder of her career, ultimately running Harbor City Hospital as Executive Director before her retirement in 2012. 

She truly loved her work and colleagues at Kaiser and thought nothing of an hour or two commute each way to get to her hospitals.  As most children of nurses can attest to, dinner conversations with a mother as a nurse can vary from the bizarre to the truly disgusting and are most suitably not topics meant for dinner, but her kids grew up listening to these tales which likely led to their desire to most certainly not go into the medical field.  She saw her hospitals through riots, earthquakes, fires, and even an alligator living in a nearby man made pond.  Throughout her career she won numerous awards and accolades, but the biggest accomplishment are the wonderful memories her friends and colleagues have shared upon hearing the news of her passing.

Retirement brought a move from California where she would split time between Colorado and Rhode Island to be near her children and grandchildren.  In 2016, when traveling between split homes became harder to manage, she finally got her home on the water and settled permanently on Echo Lake in Chepachet, Rhode Island in her beloved home, which she named Misty Morning.  She loved sunset (and probably the sunrise if she woke up that early, but that was unlikely) over the water and spending her summer days at Misquamicut Beach or tooling around the lake on her boat.

She had an infectious laugh, would always help a friend in need, never missed an episode of CSI and entertained those on Facebook with her comments on various posts.  She was a terrible cook- her children still talk about the dirt potatoes they were once served.  She was famous for dropping of a “bag of cookies” to her grandkids in Rhode Island that consisted of a crumbled mess of half raw dough.  She enjoyed baking though and it was always the thought that counts. She loved watching her grandkids play in the lake and hosted huge 4^th of July bashes that featured the neighbors’ fireworks displays that would be the envy of most towns.

Throughout her life she was committed to serving others.  She was actively involved in the Buffalo Grove Jaycee’s and always volunteered at her churches.  After moving to Orange County, she joined St. Timothy’s Parish in Laguna Niguel where she assisted in masses, conscripted her children into selling script on Sundays, and even had a foray into teaching CCD classes.  Upon moving to Rhode Island, she joined St. Thomas Episcopal Parish in Greenville and was recently baptized into the Episcopal Church in January of this year.  She loved the community and friends she made there, often volunteering at church events.  She also found her way back to her nursing beginnings and volunteered at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, in Providence, as a cuddler in the NICU before Covid stopped visits.  More recently, she found joy in her work at the Community Cat Center where she could care for cats waiting to find forever homes.

She is no longer in pain or weighed down by her numerous medical concerns.  She did not want the end of her life to be a sad time, but rather to have the joyful memories celebrated of a life well lived, she will be remembered in prayer at St. Thomas.  A celebration of her life will be held in Chicago with family and friends and she has asked to be spread at sea so you can think of her every time you go to her beloved beaches.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Community Cat Center (https://www.communitycatcenter.com/) or Hasbro Children’s Hospital (https://giving.lifespan.org/Hasbro/Donate).  We welcome family and friends to share photos, videos and memories and find details on her Celebration of Life on her virtual memorial at http://www.gatheringus.com/memorial/janine-boyd/8742.

“Remember, I loved life and loved the gifts God gave me.”