Janice Elaine Burns

May 26, 1945 – January 17, 2025

Janice Elaine Burns, 79, of North Eastham, Massachusetts, passed away peacefully on the morning of January 17, 2025, surrounded by her husband and children. Her passing was due to complications from pneumonia and recurrent cancer.

Born on May 26, 1945, in Providence, Rhode Island, Janice was the beloved daughter of Dorothy Gwendolyn Leaver and James Francis Leaver. She grew up in Warwick, Rhode Island and became a devoted older sister and caregiver to her siblings, Jamie Leaver and April Beyda (Leaver), beginning at the age of 15. This maternal energy carried throughout her life, as she found joy in caring for her family, students and community.

Janice met her husband Peter while working at the Wellfleet Drive-In, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The two met again at the University of Rhode Island, where Peter invited Janice to his fraternity formal and the rest is history. They married on June 14, 1966 and honeymooned on the Cape, dining on oysters dug up from the bay just steps from their dune-perched cottage. They built a home together in Rockville, Rhode Island, a breath-taking Deck House nestled deep within the Long and Ell Pond trails featured in the 2012 Wes Anderson film "Moonrise Kingdom." Every summer Janice picked the kids up from the last day of school and ventured to their Eastham cottage on the Cape. She finessed summers filled with magic not only for her own children, but her nieces Heather Simard (Burns) and Erin Criscitelli (Burns) as well.

Janice graduated from Warwick Vets High School before pursuing higher education at the University of Rhode Island and later earning her Master’s of Arts in Teaching at Rhode Island College in 1974. Her career in education began with roles at the University of Rhode Island Library, teaching 5th and 6th grades in Catholic Public Schools of Providence and Coventry, RI before starting a family in 1971. While her children were young, she was a VISTA volunteer with South County Community Action & Chariho Child Services, coordinating both a parent-cooperative nursery school and day care, as well as a women's resource center which over the years has become the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County. In 1981 she began teaching preschool at South County Head Start and 4 years later became the program's Education Coordinator until 1989. She spent summers with a fun booth at the Wellfleet Flea Market while working as a substitute teacher during the school year with the Chariho Regional School District until embarking on a year-round home business, Boat Meadow Sea Farm, with her husband in 1997.

Upon retiring to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Janice continued to give back to her community and environment by volunteering with the Cape Cod National Seashore and working at the Eastern National Park Store in Eastham and Provincetown. She also dedicated many happy hours to the FECOA Thrift Store in Eastham.

She cherished her role as a grandmother, creating special memories with her grandchildren particularly through favorite meals. Lobster dinners, accompanied with champagne and chocolate, were an annual summer tradition, alongside hikes at Fort Hill & Wellfleet Audobon Wildlife Sanctuary, swims at the family beach, board games (she often cheated) and daily happy hour with family at her home on Cape Cod.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 59 years, Peter Burns; her son Colin Burns of Longmeadow, Massachusetts; her daughter Miranda C. Burns of Jacksonville, Oregon; her grandchildren Jamison, Locklan, and Annalise Burns of Longmeadow; and Carter Hanrahan of Jacksonville.

A Celebration of Life will be held at some time during the warmer months. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends of the National Seashore.