Janice Woodrum

Janice Ann Leasure Woodrum

Born 5/4/1948, died 3/5/2023.

Janice was born to Carson and Irene Leasure in their La Cygne, Kansas home, the youngest of three daughters.  She attended high school where she played baritone saxophone in the high school band and was a cheerleader.  She graduated Valedictorian in 1965 and spent 1 year at KU before marrying Rob Roth and moving with him to Boulder, CO where she finished her nursing degree at Colorado University.  She then worked as a nurse while he finished medical school.  In 1974, they had her first child, Carrie, and they moved to Ft. Lewis, WA where he finished medical training in the military.  There Janice had her second child, Kit, in 1976.  In 1978, the army posted them to Lanstuhl, Germany.  The family moved to the small town of Quidersbach where they lived until 1981 when Rob left the Army and they settled in Tacoma, WA.  There, while raising Kit and Carrie, Janice worked as a nurse in an endocrinology department where she received her training and certification as a diabetes educator.  She then left office nursing and went to work for the local hospital, setting up their first inpatient and outpatient diabetes education program.  She later left the hospital to set up her own independent diabetes education program in the community.  In the meantime, she served as an author and contributing editor for the Magazine, Diabetes Self-Management.

Janice and Rob divorced in 1991, and she married her second husband, David Woodrum, in 1994, meanwhile continuing her nursing work.  After the death of her mother, Irene Leasure, Janice and Dave moved back to La Cygne, KS and built a home on property she inherited.   There she continued her nursing work, first working in the outpatient setting, but she then took a position developing a new diabetes education program in Miami County and leading a government-run program to improve nutrition in the public schools of north-eastern Kansas.

After the passing of her father, Carson Leasure, Janice and David then returned to Western Washington.  She then retired from nursing and devoted her time to writing and supporting missions work. She and Dave wanted to provide seminary education in third-world countries, so she acquired degrees Theology and Education, two masters and a doctorate, and used those skills to write curriculum.  The material was translated into many languages and supplied at no cost to seminary programs all over the world, which Janice and Dave supported and helped oversee.  Janice has published multiple books, mostly on teachings from the Bible, but "Tales from the Heartlands" is a compilation of her memories of childhood in Linn County.

Janice is survived by her loving husband David Woodrum, her two wonderful sisters Joyce Sergent and Judy Coffel; her daughter Carrie Rutter, her husband Matthew and their daughters Sibyl and Daphne; her son Kit Roth, his wife Joslyn and their children Carson Roth and Vanessa Musonwa; her step-sons Davis Woodrum, his wife Ashley and daughters Stevie, Cadence, Addison and Charlie; her step-son Brad Woodrum, his wife Amber and their children Brady, Olivia, Ben, Brennan, Ava and Aliza; and her step-son Steve Woodrum, his wife Becky and their children Zachary, Jacob and Elizabeth.

We are grateful for her love for us, proud of her beautiful life, and can’t wait to see her again one day.

A memorial service will be held 2 pm Friday, May 5, 2023 at the La Cygne United Methodist Church, La Cygne, Kansas.