Janice Faye Black, reliable friend and retired American Airlines flight attendant, escaped the grasp of Alzheimer’s Disease for her final flight on September 14th.
Born in Dallas on August 20, 1944, to Joseph O. and Nell Witherspoon Black, Janice moved to Garland with her parents in 1958. She graduated from Garland High School in 1962 and attended Stephen F. Austin State College before joining Braniff International Airways to experience whatever the wide world held in store.
Known for its brightly colored planes, Emilio Pucci uniforms and Beth Levine footwear, that Braniff world would also include two corporate bankruptcies. Following the second and final of those, which stranded her in Nashville, Janice joined American Airlines for different experiences. During combined decades with the two carriers, she flew out of Dallas, Kansas City, Orlando, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Washington, D.C., finally returning to the Dallas base to assist her aging parents. With each transfer Janice became a pickier eater.
Visiting almost all the world’s places she ever wanted to and several she regretted, Janice always projected sincerity with a good heart. Her blue eyes, long eyelashes and keen wit attracted the famous and infamous alike. Never was she forced to dump refreshments on recalcitrant passengers.
On the ground Janice remained active. Feeding her shoe habit with a side gig selling at Chico’s, she still caroused with Clipped B’s, the notorious shrinking swarm of vintage Braniff flight attendants. She also volunteered with the Garland Landmark Society and Garland Summer Musicals, serving both as president.
Predeceased by her parents and her brother, Paul Black, Janice is survived by Ruby, her red Scion A, as well as Mike Hayslip, her high-school classmate and parsimonious companion for the last 27 years. She will be missed by both, as well as a nephew, several cousins and Mike’s whole family, none of whom could have guessed that her flight with him would remain airborne as long as it did.
Janice’s family and friends are particularly grateful to her caregivers at Garland’s Mayberry Gardens Assisted Living and Memory Care Center, as well as Trinity Hospice. Though no religious service is planned, Janice’s cremains are destined for the Black family plot near Mexia. Memorials, if desired, may be made to the Garland Landmark Society or a charity of choice.
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