Janice was born in the middle of winter on January 24, 1943 to Charles F. Smith and Emma Longee, she was the ninth child in a family of ten children. Five brothers Lenord, Charles, Frank, Bob and Mike and four sisters Lillian, Pearl, Rosemary and Mazie.
She attended school on Frazer, Poplar and Oswego country school, Missoula where her artistic talent was recognized, she also attended Dillon Beaverhead Country School. Finally her sister Lillian began to look into another school for her to attend, she would try to get into American Indian Art school since she had some talent she sent in her application to the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico and was accepted even though it’s a highly competitive boarding school to het into.
Her dream was to go to Fashion Design School, she never graduated. She didn’t pursue her dream of becoming a Fashion Designer. In the summer of 1963 she met David’s dad, she later moved to Missoula when David was 7 months old to go to Beauty school. She lived with her oldest sister Lillian and her husband Gene. One Friday she went out with her girlfriends and met Jim Hoover, soon after they thought they’d get married. In 1966 she became pregnant with her son Leo and two years later in 1968 had a daughter Colleen.
When Colleen was in kindergarten Janice took classes at Missoula Vocational Tech and got her GED. She took a class of Clerical Training and got a job at the University of Montana in the Admissions and Records Department. She signed up for College at the University of Montana and graduated with a BA in Sociology, in 1981 she then moved to Poplar and got a job at Fort Peck Community College as an instructor, she taught typing and short hand. Shortly after starting work at FPCC she met Steve Collins and turned into a long lasting marriage.
Janice worked at various jobs throughout the years. Such as instructor, secretary, social service rep., but found she liked working as a counselor the best because of her own problems and wanting to be able to help someone else who might feel like giving up. She knew what it felt like to have problems and to just want peace of mind, but she did have some pretty good counselors and other helpers who have been there for her at the time she needed them. They managed to teach her how to cope with life and to keep trying to grow as a person.
Janice loved people, especially children, she loved to be with her granddaughters and adored her great grandchildren, always trying to help or just show them that she loved them. She enjoyed working on crafts, traveling and always learning.
Janice is survived by her daughter Colleen; sons David and Leo and brother Mike Smith of Denver, CO.