Our beloved, Janice Elizabeth Mikkelsen, passed away on a beautiful, windy afternoon on Whidbey Island, Sunday, March 11, lovingly surrounded by family and friends.

Janice was born in Petersburg, Alaska to Lloyd and Betty Pederson on Nov. 27, 1944. She grew up in this small island community where everyone knew her as a kind, honest and caring girl.

Janice always loved “doing hair” and after she graduated from Petersburg High School she moved to Seattle and attended beauty school. She loved to share her talent and on every visit back to Petersburg she was very busy fixing her friends’ and families’ hair.

She met her husband, Kaare, in Seattle and they were married in Petersburg Sept. 4, 1965. They took their honeymoon trip to Norway where they spent five months at Kaare’s family home. They returned to Seattle and made their home in the Shoreline area.

In 1995 they built her dream home on beautiful Whidbey Island. With a view of Cultus Bay, deer in the garden and a small orchard, she resided there with her husband until her passing.

Janice always loved working in her beautiful garden. She grew vegetables, fruit and many varieties of roses and flowers. Her pantry and freezer were always stocked with the results of her labors, which she shared with many. She loved the outdoors and enjoyed traveling with family and friends, especially sailing on cruise ships. She enjoyed commercial fishing on Puget Sound with Kaare and their dog.

Family and friends were always very important to Janice and she will be fondly remembered as a loving and caring wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend to so many. She is also remembered as a loving and patient caregiver by the many children she cared for over the years including nieces, nephew, friends children and the daycare at her church where she volunteered.

Janice was very proud of her Scandinavian heritage and was active with the Daughters of Norway on Whidbey Island. She is remembered fondly by them as a loyal friend and someone who was always willing to lend a helping hand. Her specialty was Norwegian sandwiches at the Nordic festival. She organized the annual Petersburg picnic for years, which was held at the Edmonds park.

She will be greatly missed by her husband, Kaare Mikkelsen; parents Lloyd and Betty Pederson of Petersburg, Alaska; brother Roger Pederson of Seattle; sister Jean Curry (Clyde) of Petersburg; nieces Kirsten Curry Whitcomb (Shawn), Autumn and Julianne Curry and nephew Carl Pederson Dean, and her much loved Schipperke dog, Mikkey.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the wonderful hospice on Whidbey Island where she was so kindly cared for during the last few days of her life or to the Scleroderma Foundation; Enso House 6339 Wahl Road, Freeland, WA 98249. Scleroderma Foundation, 300 Rosewood Drive, Suite 105, Danvers, MA 01923.