Janice Louise Christensen

Our family sadly and unexpectedly lost our beloved wife, mom, grandma, sister, friend, and confidant when Janice Louise Christensen passed away on April 19, 2022, at age 63. While we figure out how to go on without her guidance and tenacity, we will remember her as a fierce matriarch who appreciated delicious baked goods, competitive card games, and a fabulous vacation to someplace warm and sunny (preferably after tax season).

Janice was born October 30, 1958, in Everett, WA, to Donald and Joan (Malburg) Gilbert. She graduated from Mountlake Christian High School in 1976 and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Washington in 1985. She raised her family in Shoreline, WA, where she lived since 1993, and was deeply involved at Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle, WA, and later at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church in Shoreline. Janice spent many years in banking until she joined Willett, Zevenbergen & Bennett in 2001 as a bookkeeper, where she worked for 15 years before starting her own business. She made many, many dear friends along the way.

Janice is survived by her husband and Scrabble partner of 36 years, Alan Christensen; their three children, Brian Christensen of Seattle, Amanda Hecker of Tonasket, WA, and Daniel Christensen of Brooklyn, NY; and three grandchildren, Joanna, Talia, and Adrian, who as babies could often be found asleep on her chest. She is also survived by her brothers Doug Gilbert of Mountlake Terrace, WA, and Byron Gilbert of Burien, WA. She was preceded in death by her parents and her younger brother, Cameron. In our most tender family moments, Janice would lovingly scan the room and share how much her own mother would have cherished her ever-expanding family.

Her legacy will live on within our hearts, memories, and vanilla lattes. Share your stories of remembrance and celebrate her spirit with our family on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church, 722 N. 145th Street in Shoreline, at 2pm, followed by a reception. Help her kindness and compassion live on by donating to the St. Dunstan’s feeding program or by teaching your loved ones how to play Liverpool Rummy.

Janice’s love was a cookie. Homemade with sugar and butter or shortening, whatever was the most delicious for the recipe. A Russian tea cake, a pecan pie bar, an Oreo truffle, a bird’s nest with homemade jam, rocky road, a gingersnap or—for the most adored—a custom frosted oatmeal sugar cookie. A Santa with mini m&ms for the eyes and nose. If not a Santa, a Statue of Liberty. Or a Star of David. Or a piggy, or 50 individually packaged unicorns, carefully brought across the country, handed out to every single person at the party, including seconds or thirds or fourths or fifths to anyone who wanted—let’s face it, needed—more.

Momma J’s love was a game. Cribbage, Five Crowns, Super Scrabble, Dr. Mario, Pokémon Puzzle League, and best of all, Liverpool Rummy. Fun, constant, rewarding. Even when you were mad—and oh, you got so mad—you would never dream of leaving it or describing it as less than a great time. Sometimes she took it too seriously but that’s maybe what made it so good; you’d never think to doubt her effort or intention. Everyone was invited to the table, and when you were new, she took extra care to make sure you understood how the game worked before she wiped the floor with you. And you’d always come back for another round.

Grandma’s love was a cross-stitched Christmas stocking; delicate yet hardy, made to your liking with her tiny painstaking touches. Even when it wasn’t out on the mantle, it was kept close to be seen, felt, admired. Thousands of tiny stitches from perfect colors of thread took shape to meet you wherever you were, whoever you were. The effort was palpable and yet impossible to understand in the density of its depth. It’s all part of the art and the craftsmanship.

It’s still there. In the cookies, the games, the stockings. In a Caffeine Free Diet Coke with rum, a hibiscus flower painted delicately in nail polish, a Disney theater production in the middle of the desert. Better than it or anything has any right to be. And yours to savor.

A memorial service for Janice will be held Saturday, June 25, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, 722 N 145TH ST, Shoreline, WA 98133.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Evergreen-FH.com for the Christensen family.