Janet Eller Vance

Janet Vance of Corvallis passed away on June 15, at the age of 76, after many years of living with multiple sclerosis (MS). She was born on August 13, 1940, in the bedroom of a dairy farm in Churchville, Maryland, while her father slept through the birth on the wood box in the kitchen! She was the only child of Ronda David Eller and Myrtle McCallister Eller. She attended school in Bel Air and Pylesville, Maryland. After graduating in 1958 from North Harford High School in Pylesville, Maryland, she landed a secretarial job with the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington, DC. While there, she met Dwight Vance on a blind date on St. Patrick’s Day, 1959, and married him less than six months later on September 5 in Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Maryland. In 1960, Dwight’s service in the Navy was changed from sea duty to shore duty, and he was transferred to Jacksonville, Florida, where Janet found a job in the typing pool at Riverside Hospital and Clinic. She worked there until Dwight’s Navy duty was up in late 1962, when they moved to Oregon, so that Dwight could continue his education at the University of Oregon in preparation for his career as a music teacher in Corvallis. From 1963, Janet worked for the State of Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division and the Oregon Department of Higher Education Controller’s Office and Internal Audit Division until 1988, when she retired for medical reasons related to the MS, which had been diagnosed ten years earlier. Janet and her husband were active in the Pacific Coast Association of Magicians (PCAM) and the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), an interest they shared for most of their married life. As a hobby, Dwight was an amateur magician, and Janet was secretary/treasurer and a one-time president for the local Ring of the PCAM. This interest took them to many parts of the country as they attended the PCAM and IBM conventions. Janet was active in the Northwest Hills Community Church in Corvallis, where she volunteered in its library for many years. Janet was preceded in death by her husband in 2008, following 48 years of marriage. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 22, at Park Place Assisted Living, 2595 NE Jack London St., Corvallis. Memorial donations may be made to the Oregon Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, PO Box 2806, Portland, OR 97208-2806.

Tributes

Janet Eller Vance

August 13, 1940 - June 15, 2017