Janice Elnora Ariola

There are so many facets to Jan, the mother, the friend, the wife, the cohort. So full of life, so full of talents, so full of generosity. An extremely full life of love, energy and peacefulness.

1. Fishing. We are a “fishing family”. We have fished together our whole lives. Jan has always enjoyed going on fishing trips. We would rent a house of the beach and fish in Kitty Hawk, NC every Nov 10th (USMC birthday) for many years. The Bluefish, prior to being depleted, would run past the end of the pier – no bait needed. These were wonderful family times together and some of the fondest memories. We also fished for sturgeon and salmon in Oregon/Washington and went deep sea fishing in Hawaii. All very successful trips and a lot of fun on the water. There are many other fishing memories spanning decades with Jan. She seemed to always be the one who caught the first fish, and the biggest fish. She and Carl went down to San Carols, Mexico and went fishing. She won a T-Shirt as she was the first person to catch a swordfish for the season in the town! Total badge of honor!

2. Donuts. She loved donuts. If there was a particularly intense or upsetting situation, if you gave her a donut, things were better. That’s why in the photos you see that she has a large donut in the shape of the number “80” for her 80th birthday. She loved all flavors but recently told us that her favorite was “Jelly”.

3. Shooting Guns. She loved shooting guns and was a member of Shooter’s World (so is Carl). Her preference was handguns. You’ll see some photos of her with them. She took just about every handgun class that Shooter’s World offered, like Handgun Home Defense, Shooting at Night and Shooting with Movement. Shooting with Movement incorporated advancing forward while shooting to including rolling and shooting from the ground. She always enjoyed shooting, however her real passion and coursework began in her 60’s!

4. Laguna Beach, CA. After college she went to Laguna Beach, CA and lived there in her early 20’s and absolutely loved it. That’s where she met her husband of 59 years, Carl. They met in a bar. She had a TR4 Convertible (the top was never up because it wouldn’t go up) and she wore “hot pants”. She and the family has vacationed in Laguna Beach several times through the years.

5. Orange Sherbet. Something we learned very late in her life was that she loved Orange Sherbet. It was her favorite type of ice cream/frozen treat. It made her happy.

6. She was everyone’s extended family. When any friends from college or High School where passing through the area where Jan and Carl lived, they would always stop by to see them. They shared their lives, new family members and big occasions with them. They ran things by them, asked for advice. It was her absolute delight to see them and wish them happiness. It was unusual to see how many people of her daughters’ age came by to see them sans her daughters!

7. Showing Old English Sheepdogs. She and Carl received an Old English Sheepdog puppy from their closest friends while they were stationed abroad. The puppy’s official name was Lady Fatima of Kinkardine (kin-car-din). We called her “Misty” and she didn’t care for children, nipping at them if they got too close (lol). Jan decided to get into showing dogs and began doing so with Misty. She was an incredible dog and quickly became a champion. We went to North Carolina to a breeder to get Misty a boyfriend, and brought “Jimmy Valentine” (official name) into the family. We called him Jim. While Carl was overseas, Jan piled Alice and Susan, Misty, Jim, Sally (the original dog from Hawaii), Mildred and Snowflake (cats) into the motorhome and took off across the country to dog shows. It was an adventure to say the least. Thank goodness for KOA’s. Jim had a skin condition so he retired early from the dog showing ring, however Misty and Jim went on to have two litters of puppies, one litter or 4 and one being 9 in count!

8. Ironwood Pig Sanctuary. Later in life Jan learned about a Pig Sanctuary in Tucson and decided to “adopt” a pig (virtually). She always wanted to go and take a tour of the sanctuary, however with mobility issues, heat and COVID, she never did. She did, however, remain very diligent in keeping up with what was going on at the sanctuary, gathering items needed and sending them. If people would like to donate to the Ironwood Pig Sanctuary in Tucson, AZ in her name, that would be fantastic.

9. Cigarettes. She loved cigarettes and was not embarrassed by loving smoking. She smoked “Winston Lights”. Once she quit, about 30 years ago, she would try to position herself down-wind of anyone smoking – hahahaha! It’s true! She has also said for 30 years that she had a pack of Winston Lights hidden away in the bedroom in case she “needed” one. After she passed, we found that pack of unopened 30 year old Winston Lights hidden in the bottom of her underwear drawer!

10. Water Aerobics. In her 50’s she took a class of water aerobics and loved it! She loved the exercise and the people who were in the class itself. She liked to go 2 -3 times a week. At one point, she wanted to be a water aerobics instructor and looked into becoming one.

11. Merlot. Merlot is and has been her drink of choice in the evenings and while out. It didn’t matter what kind, as long as it was merlot. That’s why we are serving Merlot during her celebration of life and nothing else alcoholic.

12. Softball. Early in life as a child/teenager she was an avid softball play. She was good at it and enjoyed it very much.

13. The Dallas Cowboys. Carl was born in Texas and a life-long fan of the Dallas Cowboy’s football team and Jan became one. Both, along with the family, are Huge fans and have been most of our lives, throughout the good and the bad, flying our Cowboy’s flag on game day. Waiting for the next NFL season was always met with heightened anticipation to watch the Cowboys, especially Jan!

14. Coach purses. She has many, many Coach purses. Carl began purchasing her Coach purses every Christmas over 25 years ago. She always had the latest-and-greatest, whatever the style was for the fashion world. She loved her Coach purses.

15. Arriba’s Mexican Restaurant. That was her go-to for most of her birthdays in the past 20 years or so. She would always have the Large Margarita with an extra shot of tequila. There’s a photo of her on her birthday in the photo section.

16. Her Sororities. She went to Phoenix College once out of High School and joined the sorority Kappa Delta Nu. Her nickname there was Jinx! She then went to ASU and joined a sorority there: Alpha Delta Pi, and has been active since returning to Arizona.

17. American Idol. She was a huge fan and watched each season with Carl. Her favorite winner was Phillip Phillips with his song “Home”. She had it on her phone as her ringtone.

18. Other music. She had a wide variety of takes in music, but mostly from the era of the late 60’s and early 70’s. Not the weird stuff, but more sing-along type music or bands with a horn section (like the Commodores). She absolutely loved the Beach Boys. She also loved John Denver. When we lived in San Onofre, CA on Camp Pendleton, she and Gee Smith (the wife of the base’s veterinarian and avid hunter, living next door) would open up their doors and windows and blast John Denver “Take me home, country road” and loudly sing whilst in their own houses just for fun. They rocked the neighborhood!

19. She would always send sweet texts, sweet emails or calls telling you how wonderful you were, how smart you were or how proud of you she was. It was a daily thing! She also would hold your hand, no matter what your age. So you thought you were grown up and on your own? Not the case! She was there every day with a reminder that your were supported, many times in creative ways. I remember receiving greeting cards that she would send to me in college from my cat, Mildred. They would have $5 inside and an explanation, as though from Mildred, that she had taken a job at the end of the cul-de-sac doing construction on a newly being built house. And that she (the cat) just wanted to send a few dollars my way. The other animals in our home, along with a number of celebrities (such as Sylvester Stallone) would also send me cards with uplifting message and occasionally a dollar or two, all from Mom. My friends in college actually thought I knew Sylvester Stallone – lol.

20. She was the most amazing hostess, welcome all visitors with open arms into her home. One of her favorite things to cook for guests was her delicious Creole Gumbo! No one left her home hungry. She loved to entertain and had many entertainment cookbooks from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, prior to the internet.

21. She twirled the baton at local parades when she was very young, and was also an adept tap dancer (thanks to her mother, Alice, and all of those lessons!). When she was feeling silly, she would burst into an impromptu tap dance!

22. She was a beautiful person inside and out, and competed in beauty pageants while in high school.

23. She was an accomplished pianist and a beautiful singer, and would often play for parties or crowds before she was even 12 years old. In her 40s, she was member of a popular traveling women’s chorus group, and performed all over Southern California at benefits, charity events, schools and holiday shows. Everyone always welcomed her performances!

24. When things got a bit rough, or you were sad, she would say “Girls, let’s put a fresh coat of lipstick on and keep going!” She was a forward-thinking, positive force and instilled that in her daughters.

25. She is survived by her husband, Col. Carl R. Ariola, Ret., her eldest daughter, Alice Ariola, her younger daughter, Susan Ariola, and her maternal Aunt, Patricia Elliot. She is so very missed.

I hope you’ve gained an insight into Janice from this information. She was an absolutely wonderful person that anyone would be fortunate to know. Please know that she was 100% coherent when she made the decision to reject chemo as it would not elongate her life, but make is miserable during the time that she had. She chose another path of passing at home. She told Carl on her journey to pass, “We’ve had a lot of fun” referring to their life together and experiences. And they did. And we have. Party on in heaven – we’ll be there soon enough to join in!