Janis S Bickham

On the night of her birth, the author Orson Welles famously caused a panic with his radio broadcast “War of the Worlds” about a Martian invasion bringing the end of the world. Luckily this was not to be. By all accounts, the newly arrived Janis was a beautiful baby who grew into a rather precocious child. She grew up in Cedar Grove running with her neighborhood friends. In her childhood home, she frequently recounted fond memories of recreating the Wild West and scenes from Nyoka the Jungle Girl. She enjoyed going to the movies for a nickel and drinking ice cold glass bottles of Coca-Cola with peanuts in the bottom. She saved her pennies to buy candy and stashed it in her sock drawer. This was a habit she carried into adulthood at which time any of her dresser drawers might produce some squirreled away holiday candy.

Janis was adored by her daddy and preened by her mother, who owned an in-home beauty shop. She was the subject of many a hair roller. She was known to talk constantly to the delight but also grievance of her mother. When Janis was five years old, this chatty child was compelled to share with bystanders on the trolley car (Shreveport had a trolley!) that her heavily pregnant mother was soon to have a baby. Sharing this news with strangers came at the utter horror of her mother Lucille since this subject was avoided in that day. Along came her much anticipated sister, Beverly, in 1943. Despite her initial excitement, Janis was dismayed by the arrival of a “big fat baby”, not at all a small delicate baby like her dolls. Despite her initial disappointment, Janis loved Beverly fiercely— or alternately pinched Beverly fiercely. Sisters will be sisters after all. As an exceptionally imaginative child, Janis would often awaken Beverly in their shared bedroom because she could “hear the angels singing” and wanted her sister to hear them too. She was a poor bed partner. Janis would remain a night owl throughout her life, where she was most comfortable on the living room couch watching shows, snacking and visiting if you were lucky enough to be her companion.

After Beverly was born, Janis spent a lot of time with one of her favorite people, her paternal grandfather Papaw. He also loved Janis and would pick her up for weekly trolley rides to Kay’s Cookie Factory to get a bag of broken cookies for a nickel. Janis frequently shared fond memories of her Papaw, although she especially disliked when people said to her “You look just like your Papaw!” Janis also got to make weekly trips downtown with her mother and sister when the beauty shop was closed on Mondays. She often recalled she didn’t know “where they thought they were going”, but they got dressed in their nicest clothes and took the trolley to lunch every Monday.

Janis attended Byrd High School from 1952 through 1956 where she represented Cedar Grove. In her senior year at age 17, she eloped to Marshall, TX with her soon-to-be husband Ed Carroll “Buddy” Bickham along with two other young couples. She contended she was the only virgin to ever be married in a black dress. They would be married for the next 70 years. For several weeks, no one knew they were married! Their young family quickly grew with the arrival of Mark in 1956, Curt in 1957, Lisa in 1959, and Lori in 1961. They turned heads wherever they went as the family with the beautiful young stylish mom, 2 loud boys, a big-eyed blonde little girl and an adorable red-headed baby girl.

Buddy took a job with United Gas which would lead them to the New Orleans area (Kenner) for several years. Ultimately they would move 26 times in total, sometimes across the country, after his career took him to General Electric and then to Illinois Central Railroad. In their initial move to Kenner, Janis worked in the elementary school cafeteria where notably she learned to make delicious breads and rolls. She became very intrigued with Cajun customs and cooking and picked up many tips from her neighbor Helen. She could make a mean gumbo. During this time the Bickham kids were a hectic young bunch—Janis famously adored her four young children and their funny quips. Even when they were mischievous, she found them to be hilarious. One of her favorite stories was of young Mark notifying her that his brother Curt was having one of his childhood seizures by shouting “Curt is having a convention out in the backyard!” Or when Curt threatened at his doctor’s visit “If you shoot me in my pocket, I’ll break all your medicines!” Lisa mispronounced her brand name Grasshopper shoes: “I can’t find my Assgrappers!” while Mark re-iterated “Yeah, we can’t find them Hop-hop-hopperasses anywhere!” In one of their many moves, they left baby Lori at home in her infant carrier before they got around the block and realized she was missing.

In 1969 with the children headed into elementary, middle and high school, the family moved north to Illinois where they would stay for the next 19 years. Buddy ultimately commuted from Hazelcrest to downtown Chicago daily to work while Janis had jobs as a secretary for Perno Ford and in the grocery story bakery where she learned to make her famous sheet cakes. The Bickham household was well known amongst her teenage children’s friend group as the place to hang out. This included Curt’s future wife and high school sweetheart, Becci. They had children in and out of their house constantly, to the point that they didn’t realize when one of Curt’s friends was sleeping under the bed for awhile or that Lisa and Lori’s friends spent years graffitiing their mattress with signatures. Janis, always the glamorous mom with bouffant hair and long lashes, would wake up the house every Saturday morning with her vacuum roaring and her heels tip-tapping up and down the hall. She stored her groceries in the garage during the long frozen Chicago winters at which time she might direct one of her children to “go get the turkey off the car hood!” Janis and Buddy did frequent many stunning conventions during his railroad career—she was able to visit Boston, New York and Canada amongst other places on the “wives tour.”

Gradually Janis and Buddy became grandparents with the arrival of Wesley in 1979, quickly to be followed by a gaggle of girls including Kristy, Natalie and Katie in 1980, Stacey in 1983, Carly in 1984 and Erica in 1986. Janis loved her grandchildren intently. A grandmother title never suited her young spirit so she was simply called “Mom” (or less simply “Janis Mom” by some!). Later she would shorten her moniker to “J. Mo.” Janis’s grandchildren fondly remember her warm laugh, humorous spirit, gentle back scratches, and terms of endearment as in “I love you, sugar girl”. No matter the time of day or the circumstance, she welcomed you to share her couch and her hidden candies. Eventually she and Buddy welcomed eleven great-grandchildren as well. “Mom” was able to enjoy many years with her great-grandchildren.

Janis was well-known as a fabulous if not scattered chef. Walking in her back door at any given time, you were likely to find her stirring a pot of refrigerator soup—this was how she emptied out her fridge every week, using her leftovers to create a unique soup. She would serve you a bowl of this with a toasted sandwich and hover directly over you while instructing you to “eat it with a chip!” Possibly you would find her stirring a pot of fudge or divinity, her glasses smudged and held on one side by a rubber band over her ear. If you were really lucky, you got to walk in to a slice of her famous chocolate pie, even if it wasn’t a holiday. Janis lived to feed her family and whatever visitor came by. She never wanted to eat out, always insisting it wouldn’t be as good as something she could make at home. She was right. She also obsessively collected cookbooks by the hundreds, possibly thousands. Every year she waited for rope drop at the Centenary book bazaar to hustle some bargains for $1-2 apiece. Typically she was trying to outrace her archnemesis, another lady that owned a nearby used book store who was always competing for cookbooks on an annual basis. A testament to how she felt about home, Janis especially loved cookbooks that included people’s life stories about their recipes and their families.

In 1989, Janis and Buddy moved from Illinois back to Shreveport into Buddy’s inherited family home on Tulsa Avenue. Janis took a job as a ceramics painting instructor for the city. Her studio was behind the old library on Southern Avenue which was within walking distance. Her old black lab, Boo, waited for her every day to accompany her on the drive home. Women from around the community came to paint ceramics under her guidance. Janis became well-known for her skill and finesse creating beautiful ceramic figurines, especially Santa Clauses, with detailed eyes and lashes.

Janis’s enduring legacy is her love for her children, grandchildren and family. She showed this through her acceptance, nonjudgment, and unwavering support for us all. Distance and time never faded her affection for any of her children or grandchildren. She quite literally carried her family in her overstuffed purse wherever she went, keeping tiny pictures in her wallet cut out from her favorite photos. As she carried us, so we will carry her today and all future days in our hearts, our traditions, our memories, and our RECIPES which time cannot erase. We love you, Mom!

Janis is survived by her husband Buddy Bickham; sons, Mark Bickham, Curt Bickham and wife Becci Bickham; daughter, Lisa Bickham Des Marais and husband Bob Des Marais; grand-daughters Kristy Bickham, Natalie Caraway and husband Jonathon (children Anna and Nathan), Katie Bickham (children Beau and Presley), Stacey Sparks and husband Brian (children Gage, Cole and Andy), and Erica Cisek and husband Chris (children Evan and Abigail); sister, Beverly White and husband Tommy; and her niece Leslie Richardson and husband Darren (child David). Janis was preceded in death by her parents Lucille and Willis McGowan, daughter Lori Ann Bickham, grandson Wesley Wayne Bickham, and grand-daughter Carly Bickham.

Janis’s family would like to extend a special thanks to her caregivers, Nancy Rivers, Peggy Procell and Kimberly Rone as well as Bristol Hospice and their wonderful nurses. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in her name to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.