Janice Lee Cantrell

Janice Lee Cantrell, 83, of Ennis and formerly of Waco, died Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at Ennis Care Center.

A graveside service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday, January 20, at Waco Memorial Park.

Janice was born December 14, 1939, in Waco and was the second of the three children of Charles Morgan Cantrell and Garnett Pearl Davis Cantrell. She attended Waco schools, going from North Waco and Dean Highland Elementary Schools to North Junior, to Waco High School, from which she graduated in 1958. After graduation, she attended North Texas State University and Baylor University. Her major was business.

Janice early showed proficiency in the business field. When she was in junior high, she was hired by the Heart of Texas Fair as a part-time secretary to the director of the Fair. She worked alongside her mother, who was the receptionist at the Fair. In high school, she was an officer in the business club. In later years, she became a very skilled executive secretary.

When Janice was eleven years old, she and her older brother, Don, began attending Sunday school and church at Highland Baptist Church. Both of them professed their faith in Jesus Christ and were baptized on the same day.

In June of 1959, Janice was married to Douglas Wayne Richards, also a Wacoan. Janice and Douglas’s three children were born in the Fort Worth-Arlington area, where she resided until a few years before her death. Janice loved her grandchildren and helped her daughter Cindy with her children while they were still at home. Janice took delight in seeing her great-grandchildren and kept up with their lives even though she was confined to a care center.

Janice loved beautiful things, especially clothes. As long as she was able, she dressed herself nicely each day, using make-up and styling her hair. She was always complimentary of other’s appearances. She loved shopping. She even got excited over a trip to Walmart. She was very appreciative of every gift, from a stuffed animal to a birthday card.

Janice was preceded in death by her much loved parents, Charles and Pearl Cantrell; and by her brother, Donald Wayne Cantrell.

She is survived by her three children: daughter, Cindy McRay; son, Charles Wayne Richards and wife, Amy; and son, Mark Wayne Richards and wife, Sandra. She is also survived by ten grandchildren: Amy Neal, Colby Richards, Laci Jackson, Tiffany Morogiello, Styl Richards, Sarah Richards, Justin McRay, Kinsey Richards Wing, Dylan McRay, and Brandon Richards. Along with the grandchildren, there are thirteen great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brother, Charles Leonard Cantrell, and his wife, Ann, of Oklahoma City; and by her sister-in-law, Myrna Cantrell of Waco. Others left to mourn her are seventeen nephews and nieces.