Janice Ruth Kangas

The oldest of six children born to Nellie and Joethan Murray of Salem, Janice graduated from Salem High School in 1935. During an extended summer vacation in 1937, she met George Kangas at a dance at the Oceanlake Dance Hall.

The couple married on October 9, 1938, and Janice made the leap from being a college sorority girl at Willamette University to her role as a dairy farmer’s wife. Together George and Janice ran the Kangas Brothers’ Dairy in Cutler City, built and managed the Lakewood Motel in Delake, and developed the extensive Lakewood subdivision in Delake before moving to Salem in 1955.

In Salem they operated the Kangas Highland Market before returning to the coast in 1964, with George constructing the Westshore Motel in Nelscott. Together George and Janice operated the motel until retirement in 1977, when they moved to their retirement home in the Taft Heights.

During their years as business owners and operators, Janice and George formed many lasting friendships. It was Janice, however, who could extract—and remember!--the details of their life stories, often recounting them years later, to the astonishment of the people involved.

Janice participated in a number of local groups, including the North Lincoln County Historical Society, the Central Coast Cultural Center, American Field Service, and Business and Professional Women. She knitted and sewed and took classes in computers, quilting, and basket weaving—continuing her trend as a lifelong learner. She was a prodigious reader, often reading biographies well into the night.

George died in 2003, and Janice remained in Lincoln City until 2005, when heart surgery necessitated a move to Portland to be closer to her doctors and to her daughters. Janice lived at West Hills Village in southwest Portland until her death.

Daughter Christi Finch of New York City died in 2000, and granddaughter Alexandra Tint died in 2010.

The family is grateful for the eight years of loving care and support received from the staff at West Hills Village and from Dr. Jessica Flynn in Portland and for the invaluable services of Home Instead and Gentiva Hospice.

Janice is survived by her daughters and their husbands: Kathy and Ami Amrani of Tigard, Sharon and Robert Borgford of Lake Oswego, and Sheila and Sherman Coventry of Portland. She leaves four grandchildren: Karim Amrani, Sol Neelman, Leyla Amrani, and Pilar Finch. Also surviving is her youngest brother, Jerry Murray (Janyce) of Reno, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

For those wishing to do so, the family suggests memorial donations be made to the North Lincoln County Historical Museum, 4907 S.W. Highway 101, Lincoln City, OR 97367.