Janice L. Potts

Good afternoon. Thank you for being here today and for the love and support many of you have already given to our family. And to our extended family who were not able to travel, we hope you are able to view the service today so that you can be with us as we celebrate the life of this remarkable and beautiful woman, we call mama. She was genuinely kind and one of the most thoughtful people I have ever known. Always looking for the best in other people, reveling in their life experiences. For those close to her she often celebrated their successes, but she also had a commanding presence in hard times too. Her friends, cousins, and former colleagues describe her as caring, loving, honest, driven, and compassionate - a lifelong encourager.

Mama came into the world on June 16, 1940, in Hudson, North Carolina. The third child of Walter Lee Laney and Melinda Oxford Laney. Her dad was beyond thrilled to have a daughter. And she was very much a daddy’s girl! Her brothers Carroll and Dale didn’t stand a chance! She was born on Pine Mountain, right on the farm. She remembered her mom and dad as hard workers, who labored at the mill from sun-up to sun-down and worked the farm before and after. Mom helped by ironing her dad’s shirts and packing his lunch. She always placed a skinny little Jan slice of cake on top. And that’s just the way he ate his lunch. He started at the top of his lunch bag with dessert and ate his way down!

Some of her favorite pastimes growing up were playing the piano, swimming, and dancing. And she loved spending time with her best friend Joyce Hartley. In 1958, she graduated from Hudson Senior High School. She was a good student and enjoyed classes in English and journalism. She would eventually move to Florida and lived with her brother Carroll and his family for a time before taking a job at Canada Dry Bottling Company, which would later become Southeast Atlantic Beverage Corporation, where she worked for 48 years. She was the executive administrative assistant to the CEO of the company, Bobby Paul, and she worked closely with the Paul and Cummer families. From a young age, she learned the value of hard work and a strong work ethic which she imparted to my sister and me. As technology advanced, she gave up her old-fashioned typewriter and taught herself how to use a computer, create spreadsheets, and powerpoint presentations with ease. A far cry from shorthand and Dictaphones.

Within five years of her high school graduation, she met and married her husband, Curtis Lynn Potts in September of 1963. They met at a dance and shared many dances together at the same dance hall and found themselves returning there on many dates, as this was one of their favorite activities. It's been said that what drew my dad to my mama was her cooking and the aroma of good food wafting down from her apartment. After they married, he wanted the “pots” rattling on the stove when he came in from work. Mom was an excellent cook and wherever they went, dad would tell people he was married to a fierce mountain woman.

Mom and Dad exchanged wedding vows on September 14,1963. Her sister-in-law Jeanette Laney served as her Matron of Honor and Billy King was their best man. The wedding took place at Arlington Baptist Church here in Jacksonville and was officiated by Reverend Grady Snowden. Mom and Dad attended there for a while and subsequently joined her brother and sister-in-law here at Parkwood. Following the wedding, they enjoyed their honeymoon in the Great Smokey Mountains of North Carolina and shared 48 wonderful years together.

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Janice Laney Potts, 83, of Jacksonville passed away Friday, December 8, 2023. She was born June 16, 1940, in Hudson, North Carolina. She was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and sister who gave generously of herself. Her faith was a fundamental part of her life and something that she shared with ease, an encouragement to all who knew her with her positivity, drive, honesty, and compassionate spirit.

Janice was preceded in death by her parents, Walter L. Laney and Melinda Oxford Laney and her brothers Carroll and Dale, and her husband of 48 years, Curtis Lynn Potts. She is survived by her daughters, Cheryl Lynn Potts, and Stacey Melinda Shelton, of Jacksonville, Fl and granddaughter, Sophia Shelton of Detroit, MI, and many adoring nieces and nephews.

Janice loved her church family with all her heart. She worked on numerous church committees, taught Sunday School, Girls in Action, and Vacation Bible School, and enjoyed rocking all of Parkwood’s babies. She also enjoyed reading everything from stories of inspiration to mysteries and her Bible. She loved to work on paper crafts and make her own greeting cards.

She retired from Southeast Atlantic Beverage Corp after 48 years of service. She was the executive administrative assistant to the president of the company and worked closely with the Paul and Cummer families.

The family invites friends to Parkwood Church, 7900 Lone Star Road, for the visitation service on Thursday, December 21, 2023, from 11:30 A.M. to 1:00 P.M., and for the service at 1:00 P.M. Interment in Chapel Hills Memory Gardens will follow the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate memorials to Parkwood Church. The service can be viewed at www.parkwood.church/livestream Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.Hardage-GiddensChapelHills.com.