Janice Margaret Randall

Janice Margaret (Dean) Randall

IN LIFE, I COMPETED WELL.

IN LIFE, I FINISHED THE RACE.

IN LIFE, I KEPT THE FAITH.

Yes. . .Janice, you did all three.

March 29, 1931-December 2, 2025

Janice Margaret (Dean) Randall was born March 29, 1931, on the family farm on Vinegar Hill, Money Creek Township, Houston County, Minnesota. Janice was the second of six children born to James Thomas Dean and Winnifred Marie (Duffy) Dean. Janice attended Houston County School #89 for three years, often walking a mile to school with her older sister, Phyllis, and other neighborhood schoolmates. November of 1942, the Dean family moved to Rushford, MN. Janice continued her education in the Rushford Public School system, graduating in 1949 as co-valedictorian. While in high school, she had many jobs: Janice delivered the LaCrosse Tribune newspaper. Later Janice became the first female to deliver the Winona Republican Herald Newspapers. It was said, “you could set your clocks as to the time of day her customers would receive their evening newspaper”; mowing lawns; setting pins at the local bowling alley(yes, Rushford had a bowling alley in the 1940’s); helping her brother remove snow from the sidewalk at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church; collecting milkweed pods (the milkweed silk was used inside the life jackets during WWII); delivering “For Sale” flyers for the H.M. Smith Department Store; working at the local Royal Theater and babysitting. She was a very ambitious individual. Her philosophy was: if you want something, then you should work for it; do not expect handouts.

After graduation, Jancie became employed by the local REA until November of1953. Janice enjoyed dancing and, on many occasions, she and friends would attend dances at the following establishments: The Wyatville Ballroom, Green Gables in Fountain, American Legion in Spring Valley, Matter’s in Decorah, Avalon Ballroom in LaCrosse, Harmony Dance Hall and The Dike in Lanesboro as well as establishments in Winona. It was at The Dike she met her future husband, Vernis Randall of Lanesboro. They really enjoyed their evenings of dancing. Janice and Vernis were united in marriage on November 28, 1953, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Rushford. For the next fifty plus years, Sis and Vernie (as they were often called), were engaged in and were very successful at farming. First on a farm near Lewiston and then on a farm west of Rochester. In February of 1962 they purchased a farm south of Pine Island and farmed until Vernie’s death on December 6, 2004. In May of 2008, Janice moved to Pine Island.

For many years the Dean family gatherings were held at the Randall farm. Her siblings and their spouses and her nieces and nephews, always looked forward to these occasions. The nieces and nephews would ride the horses, be taught the many aspects of farming and walk with Sis and Vernie about the land, looking for any type of souvenir. For enjoyment, Sis occasionally played bingo at Treasure Island Casino.

Jancie was preceded in death by her husband, Vernis; her parents; a sister, Marilyn Srnec and a brother, Harold Michael Dean. She is survived by sisters, Phyllis and Audrey, a brother James and many nieces and nephews.

Janice was a longtime member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Pine Island. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, with words of remembrance beginning at 11:45 a.m. followed by the funeral mass at the Church of St. Michael. There will be no visitation ahead of time. Interment will take place in the Randall plot at Pine Island Cemetery. Arrangements handled by Mahn Family Funeral Home, Mahler Chapel.

I shall pass this way but once: any good that I can do, or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

Janice. . .You showed kindness and you were good to all. Shalom.