Janice Mae Hellerich was born April 28, 1947 to Philip and Ann (Ondracek) Hellerich in Lincoln and passed away December 6, 2022 in Omaha.  She was raised on a farm 1/2 mile East and 2 1/2 miles North of Raymond.  In 1952, Janice’s folks moved to another farm located 1/2 mile East and 2 miles North and another 1/2 mile East where Janice spent most of her youth days.  On August 14, 1956, at the age of nine, Janice was involved in terrible car accident with her father, 1 mile West and 1/2 mile South of Raymond on Highway 79 when the Hellerich vehicle struck a tractor being driven on the highway without lights.  From this accident, Janice obtained serious injuries and had to recuperate before she could go back to school at Raymond Elementary School with her friends in October 1956.

She enjoyed helping her parents with farm chores, working in the hay fields and riding horses.  In 1958 at the age of 12, she had a horse accident at her parent’s farm.  She was dragged by the horse, kicked in the back and from this obtained injuries to her back.  She enjoyed music, this was one of her loves.  She played the accordion and piano.  She enjoyed a good polka and her favorite Czech waltz was “The Song of Bohemia”.  Her parents had farm neighbors who would come over during the 1950’s to play cards.  Since another partner was needed to play pitch, Janice was selected to learn the game.  It didn’t take her long to learn to play, and she always enjoyed playing cards after that.

She graduated from the eighth grade in 1961 and then attended Ceresco High School.  The highlight of her Senior year of high school was when all the Seniors got to go for a scenic trip to the Ozarks in Missouri for four days.  She graduated from Ceresco on May 18, 1965.  In the 1970’s, she was involved with the Governor’s election and never forgot the Governor’s Inaugural Ball at Pershing Auditorium.  For 3 1/2 years she had a small dance band.  She was a saleslady for Cort Cosmetics, Amway and Bestline Sales.  She won many sales awards.

One June 18, 1975, she left the rural farm life around Raymond to be united in marriage to Ivan C. Beckard at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church at 1601 Superior Street in Lincoln.  Janice and Ivan settled down by Unadilla where Ivan was engaged in farming.  In October 1975, they purchased a home in Palmyra and continued farming.  In 1979, Ivan and Janice’s marriage ended in divorce and they went their separate ways.  Janice moved back to Lincoln and lived there for three months before purchasing a home in Raymond in May of 1979.

In 1981, Janice was involved in another terrible accident and was laid up for 56 days, six of which where spent in Lincoln General Hospital.  In 1983, she fell in love with Donald McCawley and they were united in marriage in June of that year at the Raymond United Methodist Church.  Together they took a lot of vacations across the United States.  Janice always enjoyed this because she enjoyed studying history, it was one of her favorite subjects.  The marriage ended in divorce in 1987, but Janice continued to live in her home in Raymond.

Janice was introduced to square dancing in the fall of 1987.  She took lessons and became certified in basic and mainstream, graduating on February 14, 1988.  Four month later she obtained another certification in plus dancing.  She continued to support the folk dancing of Nebraska, called square dancing, and worked as an angel (a term given to square dancers when they go to other clubs to help beginners learn square dancing).  Later, she was introduced to contour dancing by a friend and enjoyed trying this news dance also.  It was a form of square dancing.

Before her father Philip’s death, she became involved in tracking the Hellerich surname.  With the help of her father and other relatives, she was able to track the Hellerich history back to 1616.  She continued to add to the history and work on other sides of the family trees.  She enjoyed working on a tree for her mother’s side of the family, the Ondracek and Novak Czech families.  She traced the history back to 1800’s.

In 1993, Janice became involved in political issues and worked with different organizations, circulating petitions and making changes to our constitution.  She also attended meetings at the State Capitol on the bills that she was concerned about at the time.  Janice had many hobbies, she was noted for her delicious fruit jelly.  She often would take something old and recycle it into something valuable again.  She ofter said that there just isn’t enough time to get all things done she wanted to accomplish.  At holiday gatherings with friends and family, she would always tell jokes and have everyone laughing.

Janice worked for the Athletic Department at the University of Nebraska from 1970 to 1983 as a concession manager.  She was with Mass Merchandisers for 7 1/1 years working as a returns clerk.  She was also employed by several state agencies; State Revenue Department, Department of Education, Game and Parks Department, Department of State Auditing, State Personnel Department, State Health Department and State Juvenile Parole Department.  She worked for Cega Services, a long-distance phone company in 1996 and Spanish had to be learned for that position.  Her favorite time of year was around Easter thru mid-May when all of the tulips and spring flowers were blooming.  She enjoyed planting different kinds of flowers around her home.  Another time of year she enjoyed was Indian summer days in October when all of the leaves were turning colors.

Janice had her ups and down in life, but she continued to try new things and considered herself an open-minded person.

Janice was preceded in death by her father and mother, Philip and Ann (Ondracek) Hellerich, her brother, Laurence Hellerich, her niece, Denise Jacobs, her great-nephew, Jace Wilke, brother-in-law, Charlie Davis.  She is survived by her Sister-in-law, Dee Hellerich; Nephew, Richard (Jeryl) Hellerich and their children, Josh, Jeremy and Nicole; Nieces, Diane Hellerich, Debra Gammell and her sons, Derek, Devin, Dillon Wichman and Devin Whiteside, Laurie (Pat) Greenlee and their children, Megan, Ashley and Craig, Linda Sibley and her daughters, April, Karla and Jessica.

“Today I leave you for the last time.  Someday friends, parents, brother, nieces, nephew, cousins, great nieces and nephews.  I will meet up with you again.  Until then, I wish all of you the best in life.  Remember the little things in life that I’ve shown you.  Goodbye for now, we will meet again.  Aunt Janice”.

Funeral Services will be 1:00 p.m., Wednesday, December 14, 2022 at Trump Funeral Services, 1600 West “O” Street, Lincoln with Pastor Kerry O’Bryant officiating.  Visitation will be 2 hours before services at the funeral home.  Interment will be in the Oak Creek Cemetery, Raymond.  Condolences may be left at trumpmemorials.com.  Trump Funeral Services, 1600 West “O” Street, Lincoln.