Janice C. Stevens recently passed away at Karen Ann Quinlan Home for Hospice after a short stay. She was 60. Unknown to many, she battled stage four breast cancer for over 15 years. Janice was a fighter and survivor and greatly admired for her courage and strength.
Janice was born outside of Chicago but spent her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area, growing up with her two sisters in the town of Foster City. Her sisters nicknamed her the terrorist because her paybacks came days later when you least expected it. Janice played softball as a youngster through her teenage years where both her Mom and Dad coached many of her teams. Janice was also a competitive swimmer on the San Mateo High School swim team. She was always fashionable, tan and her hair was always perfectly done earning the nickname Malibu Barbie by dear friends.
Prior to moving to New Jersey 22 years ago, Janice worked for a large law firm as a paralegal dealing with worker’s compensation cases and insurance defense. For the last 22 years, she worked for Sparta Township in various capacities with her main focus in Land Use. She began with the Health Department, moved on to the Building Department and then on to Planning and Zoning. She was the Planning and Zoning Coordinator and Code Enforcement Official. Janice worked closely with the Township’s Economic Development Committee, Environmental Commission and was an original member of the Sparta Green Team. She was instrumental in helping bring Sparta to a Bronze Level in the Sustainable Jersey program and kept the Bronze Certification active for the past 8 years. Janice had many certifications in Land Use through continuing education programs offered through Rutgers University.
