Janice Jay (Jaremko) Vice was born Sept. 27, 1940, to Joseph and Florence (Robinson) Jaremko in Minneapolis.

There she attended local schools and got her first pony. At age 13 she and a friend hitch-hiked to Ogallala, Neb., to become “cowboys.” She won a local beauty contest while in high school. At 17, she journeyed to Santa Monica, Calif., and worked as a model.

She married at age 19. Her only child, Connie, was born on Sept. 5, 1960. Jan, her then-husband and their daughter traveled to various places across the country, following the pipeline trade, until finally settling in the Seattle area in about 1966, where she decided it was the best place in the country to raise her daughter.

In 1969, while working at Boeing in Renton, she met Irvin Vice. They married in 1970 and resided in Redmond. There she had many good friends and several horses, dogs and cats. Her favorite horses were Coco, a Morgan, and Hy Tone, a Palomino stallion.

In 1979, she made her first trip to Kentucky to buy her first thoroughbred mares, and there began her and Irv’s business of raising race-horses to race at Longacres. She loved to travel and made trips to Great Britain and Scotland.

In 1997, Jan and Irv moved to Oak Harbor where she could see the ocean and Olympic Mountains from her home, and hear the military jets up above. She had many friends there and a great love for all animals, primarily dogs. Her “best friend” Sparky passed away in March 2013 – a sorrow she never recovered from. Of all her friends, her “best” were her dogs and cats.

Jan had many serious and debilitating health problems over the years. She passed away peacefully at Whidbey General Hospital on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015, following complications from a stroke with her husband and daughter by her side. She will always be remembered as the most caring, vivacious, funny and outgoing person one could ever meet. She will be sorely missed, but never forgotten!

She leaves behind her husband Irvin Vice; daughter Connie Ramsey (Scott); sisters, Sherry MacDonald (Alex) and Bonnie Quino (Albert); several nieces and nephews; and a world of friends.

In lieu of flowers, it is suggested that a donation could be made in her memory to the ASPCA, one of her many favorite animal charities.