Janice L. Day
December 10, 1949 – December 17, 2022
Janice L. Day was born in Pawtucket, RI, the third daughter of Jeannette and George Day. She was the loving sister to Pat, Ginger and Debbie and mother to countless stray dogs and cats. She adopted 5 of these!
She was married to Frank Monti for 33 years. On their 33rd anniversary, June 10, 2022, after having started chemotherapy and knowing the future ahead of them, Janice remarked that she was happy she and Frank made it to Larry Bird’s retired number and that their 33 years of marriage would be one more theory for the meaning of the 33 on every bottle of Rolling Rock beer.
Janice lived a full and very successful life. She was a serious roller skater in her early years, dancing on roller skates at the roller rink near her Pawtucket home. After graduating from school, she enjoyed traveling and going to dance clubs with her younger sister Debbie. They would also rent a place on Cape Cod each summer and Janice’s dream was to someday buy a home on the Cape.
She was an avid pro football fan for over 10 years until 1978 when NE Patriot Darryl Stingley was paralyzed during a game with the Oakland Raiders. Although the play was eventually ruled to be a legal hit, she stopped watching pro football immediately and the NFL made a rule change.
Janice was always a fan of Providence College basketball, and this played a big role in how she met Frank. Together with Frank and his Dad, they attended every Friar home game and traveled to many away games including the 2006 Final Four and other NCAA tournament games around the country. Only the move to Florida in 2004 could dim her enthusiasm for Friar basketball.
Janice was an excellent student – named the Outstanding Business Student of the Year in 1970. She was also Miss Rhode Island Junior College Legs that same year. She graduated Suma Cum Laude from Bryant University with her business/accounting degree.
Janice was an accountant and a success as a controller, CFO, and as a consultant in her own business. She enjoyed success in this field long before women were adequately represented in accounting and business corporate suite. She was the CFO of multiple corporations in the fields of data processing, Information Technology, law, healthcare and finished her career as the owner of her own company, Capital Business Consulting, providing unique consulting services to investment advisors and broker-dealers.
Janice was a long-time member and Past-President of the Providence Chapter of the National Association of Accountants. Frank was immediately attracted to her early in her career when he saw her working the calculator with her right hand and recording the results with her left hand! Although left-handed, she was truly ambidextrous and was never affected by the difficulties many natural left-handers have in a right-handed world.
This ability to adapt was one of her strongest characteristics. In 2005 she suffered a Central Retinal Vein Occlusion rending her blind in her right eye almost immediately. This caused her to stop working as hours of internet research and writing was almost impossible. But, aside from a short period of time while her depth perception adjusted to seeing with one eye, few people knew of her affliction. Her cat, Ally, and dog, Casey, both learned to only walk on Janice’s left side or risk being stepped on.
Janice never complained about her sight issue. Later in life she began to have issues with her left eye and for a while was unable to drive. While she did not enjoy the lack of independence that this caused, she and Frank were happy for the additional time this meant for them to be together as he drove her wherever. In the notes she created as she prepared for her final journey in life, Janice remembered that she and Frank laughed together every day.
She frequently expressed her gratitude for being born a woman in the USA and for having sisters. Janice was very patriotic, supporting the military, police, and first responders in many respects. She purchased bullet-proof vests for police dogs and frequently purchased the meal for a service member she saw in uniform in the same restaurant.
Janice had a New England work ethic and was a valued employee wherever she worked. When she started her own business, she enjoyed a loyal and devoted group of clients who valued her abilities and high moral values. She was spiritual without being religious. A student of the human condition, she was forensic in her ability to understand the most complex of situations.
Janice studied Tai Chi for 12 years. The meditative state of mind and controlled breathing of this form of exercise fit her personality perfectly. She was very highly principled. When Nike® renewed its endorsement contract with Michael Vic after his conviction for conducting a pit-bull dog fighting operation, she refused to own anything made by Nike for the rest of her life.
Janice had many varied interests: historic preservation, photography, tennis, biking, antiques, and her addiction of jewelry. Historic preservation led to Frank and Janice owning an 1870 Victorian home for 19 years and fully restoring it to its 19th century charm. In the process she became a color consultant for other historic structures and collaborated on Victorian restoration projects around the country. She was a founding member and Treasurer of the Attleboro Historic Preservation Society.
She was forever thankful to God for his gift of Ally – the stray cat that wandered into the Attleboro back yard and had four kittens under a tree. As Janice wrote in her journal: “God’s gift was Ally. She came into my life when I was at the lowest point in my life to date. I had lost my vision in my right eye and had lost depth perception. I felt useless. Caring for Ally and her kittens was the most rewarding experience.”
Janice and her German Shepherd, Fletch, protected Ally and her kittens in the back yard until the kittens could be captured and taken to the vet for socialization and adoption. Ally stayed with Janice – knowing a good thing when she found it. When Fletch passed, Ally was heartbroken so Janice went in search of another dog for Ally.
She eventually found Casey in Lakeland, FL. Casey was a special dog and Janice recognized that immediately and began training Casey for pet therapy. Janice described her time with Casey this way: “The most satisfying experience of my life was the 7 ½ years that I spent as a volunteer for Humane Society of Sarasota County, providing Pet Therapy services along with Casey, my best girl. We went to various schools for children and young adults with special needs, mental health facilities, assisted living and nursing home residents with dementia units. Casey was my companion, best friend, working partner, and agility team member. Casey loved all our interactions, but really exceled in those with children and young adults with autism.”
Janice loved to entertain. Each Spring she held a “Red Sox Opening Day at Fenway Park” party at her Florida home and invited all her fellow Red Sox fans. She watched every game, day and night. The 2004 breaking of the curse was a miracle and the 2018 record-breaking year was a summer of continual enjoyment with each victory. She was very upset that she sat through a last-place finish in the summer of 2022. But a video sent to her during the summer by Jackie Bradley, Jr. indicating that he and the team were pulling for her as she faced her difficult diagnosis was most appreciated by this loyal fan.
This past summer she was asked by her niece what in life made her happy. This is what she wrote:
Never truly loved anyone other than Frank
Vacations with Frank – all to myself before cellphones
Ally & her kittens
Casey – Therapy Dog work and O’gility (obedience & agility training) - my whole time with Casey
Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in UT – Volunteer
Italy – moonbeam on the Mediterranean
Napa – sheer beauty
NCAA Final 4 with Dad & Justin
Hawaii – Frank & my engagement trip
Family – time with my sisters
2018 Red Sox World Championship season
Biking with Frank on the Cape Cod Rail Trail
Nightclubbing with Deb
PC Basketball
Single Professionals
Surfing with Friend (age 15 – 18)
Toni – upstairs dog I adopted as my own
There will be a gathering in her honor at the Robert Toale and Sons Funeral Home –Wiegand Chapel at 7454 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota from 10 am to noon on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. In the late spring, there will be a gathering in her honor in Rhode Island as well. Janice was an amazing person.
In lieu of flowers, for those wishing to remember Janice with a gift in her honor, her top charities are:
K9S for Warriors
114 Camp K9 Road
Ponte Vedra, FL 32081
DAV Disabled American Vets
860 Dolwick Drive
Erlanger, KY 41018
Vested Interest in K9s, Inc.
P. O. Box 9
East Taunton MA 02718
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon Road
PO Box 567
Kanab, UT 84741-0567
The Humane Society of the US
1255 23rd St NW,
Washington, DC 20037
ASPCA
ASPCA Gift Processing Center
PO BOX 96929
Washington, DC 20077-7127
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