Janice Lou Lape

Janice Lou Lape was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 13, 1935, the younger of two children to Arthur and Velma Bibby, themselves children of English and German immigrants. She spent her early years on a wheat and cattle ranch in Grass Valley, Oregon, homesteaded by her German immigrant grandfather. After Janice had spent eight years in Grass Valley Grade School with the same five classmates, the family established a home in Portland during the school months so that Janice and her brother Steve could attend high school there.

After graduating from Grant High School in Portland, Oregon, she began her studies at the University of Oregon, where she met and married her first husband, Gary Alden. While in Eugene, Oregon, a daughter Elizabeth and a son Mark were born. Her husband accepted a commission in the United States Air Force and that began Janice’s long exposure to the life of a military wife and her travels throughout the United States and overseas.

With two children in tow, their first assignments were to pilot training bases in Malden, MO, and Big Springs, Texas. While at Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, a son Brian and a daughter Lynn were born. Now with four children in tow, one a babe in arms and 3 on leashes, Janice followed her husband on a three year assignment to Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, Turkey. She took great advantage of this adventuresome assignment to fulfill her great love for travel and to visit as much of the Middle East as she was able to accomplish.

Returning to the States in 1965, Janice found herself in the middle of tornado country, McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, caring for her four children while her husband was sent off to fight in Vietnam for a year. Her husband returned from combat duty in 1966 with orders to pack and move the family to Leon, France. After Janice had prepared for the move, including outfitting the four children with the winter clothing and raingear they would need in France, the orders were changed and the family was moved to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, AZ, where she fell in love with the desert. During this time her husband went to Vietnam for another tour while Janice continued to raise the children in Tucson. At the completion of this assignment, Janice and her family moved to Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, New Mexico. In 1972, Janice and her family moved to Fairfax, Virginia, where her husband began a four year assignment at the Pentagon. The previous years of military duty took their toll on Janice’s marriage and she and her husband divorced. Janice stayed on as a single mother in Virginia with her children for a year and then made the decision to move herself and her children to Tucson, Arizona.

After buying a home in Tucson and establishing herself as a travel consultant, Janice’s efforts were directed toward raising her children and seeing them all get started on their college educations. And, after taking an oath to not get involved with another military man, Janice met an officer and a gentleman, Lt. Col. Gary Lape, Commander of one of the Fighter Squadrons assigned to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson. Near the completion of this assignment, Gary was promoted to full Colonel and received orders to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. After two & one-half years of courtship, and after much deliberation, Janice accepted Gary’s proposal of marriage and threw herself once again into the whirlwind of military life. Gary was her best friend and the love of her life; life wasn’t always going to be easy, but it would always be exciting.

After a short 18 months in Virginia, Janice and Gary were transferred to Washington, D.C., to begin a rigorous 15 month program to prepare them for Attaché duty, working out of the US Embassy in Quito, Ecuador. After completing Attaché training, cultural orientation, and Gary’s flight training in the C-12 aircraft, they both completed a seven & one-half month Spanish Language immersion program. The next three years found them living in Quito, Ecuador, and working in Ecuador, Columbia, and Peru. Janice shined as a spokesperson and representative of the United States Government, entertaining and befriending senior civilian and military officials of the 25 foreign governments represented in the diplomatic circle in Quito. One of the most satisfying aspects of this assignment was that Janice could accompany Gary on his flight missions in the embassy C-12 aircraft throughout all three of the countries (which also made shopping one of the mandatory missions).

On return to the States in 1988, Gary and Janice found themselves at the Inter-American Defense College, Ft. Leslie J. McNair, Washington D.C., where they remained until Gary retired from the Air Force in 1992. She and Gary then returned to Tucson to enjoy the fruits of their labor and the grandchildren additions to their ever growing family.

Janice and Gary came to the Cross late in life, both submitting to their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in April of 1997. They immediately realized their primary mission field, the members of their large, blended family. She and Gary were blessed in bringing the Gospel Message to members of their family: children, grandchildren and In-laws. Janice will be remembered by her family and friends for her dedication to her God, her dedicated service to her Country as a military wife, and her devotion to her Family. Her only regret in the last days was that she was never able to find the time to pen the book she carried in her head for years: “Where is MY Purple Heart?”, documenting her three decades as a dedicated Military Wife.

Janice was active in Christ Community Church and loved the family she found there. She treasured the relationships she found with the members of her bible studies and her Church Community Group until, sadly, she suffered the later stages of dementia and lived in a Dementia Memory Care facility for the final 15 months of her life. She found her greatest joy and accomplishment in her role as wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is survived by her loving husband, Colonel Gary Lape, USAF (Ret); children Mark Alden (Debbie) of Tucson; Brian Alden (Bekki) of Albuquerque, Elizabeth Alden of Lakeside, Arizona; Lynn Radler (Mike) of Tucson; stepchildren Kelly Jo Hoffman (Joseph) of North Plains, OR, Kristine Lape of Hillsboro, OR, eight wonderful grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.

Final interment will be at the Arizona Veterans' Memorial Cemetery, Marana, Arizona, where she will wait for her husband Gary Lape to join her.