Janice Carol Hawthorne Akers, or Granny, as she preferred, was born in Tollette, Arkansas, on February 23, 1940, of her parents William Dee & Genevieve Hawthorne with younger brother Jerry Dee Hawthorne soon to follow two years later.  Growing up, the Hawthorne family had a hard life. William Dee was a sharecropper through WW2 and was then stricken with Tuberculosis.  After his recovery, both William Dee and Genevieve worked for the State of Arkansas Psychiatric Hospital in Benton where cohabitation with children on the premises was forbidden so Janice and Jerry were not able to stay on the premises.  Growing up in this difficult environment was not easy, but God would redeem those lost moments of time.

As a young girl, Janice had a strong calling of God on her heart and at the age of 10, she submitted her life to her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  As Mom would tell stories of her daddy, he was a praying man, and she could always hear him praying in the home.  Her daddy was also protective of her and did not allow her to date in her teenage years.  Her mother Genevieve was a hard worker right along-side her husband, be it picking cotton in the fields, working long shifts in the hospital or in the garden of their retired years.  After high school, Janice attended Southwestern Bible College in Waxahachie, TX, where she met the love of her life, Nolan from Tomball, TX.  To keep the love aflame, Daddy would hitchhike from Tomball to Texarkana to see Mom.  Both Nolan and Janice finished Bible College and married soon after beginning their life-long legacy of ministry, education, and raising a family of five children.

Nolan and Janice were an inseparable pair, their love of God and devotion to each other led them on a life filled with adventure.  Their pastoring took them to Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas.  In their 50-plus years of ministry, Janice would supplement income by teaching in public schools in every city they pastored finally retiring from teaching at Magnolia ISD with a career of 43 years.  In 2008, the love of her life, Nolan, passed away. The void of his love was great, but that was filled by the love of family and her Savior Jesus Christ.  Janice passed from this earth Monday afternoon of October 24, 2022, with family at her side singing Amazing Grace , where she was accompanied in heaven by her Love, Nolan, to meet her LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.

Janice is preceded in death by her loving husband, Rev. Nolan Akers; her father, William Dee Hawthorne; her mother, Genevieve Dyer Hawthorne; and her brother, Jerry Dee Hawthorne.

Survivors include her children and their spouses: Melody Goldman (Mark), Cynthia Gardner (Mark), Lanora Caviness (Jimmy), Matthew Akers (Yoshiko), and Mark Akers (Sonia); her grandchildren: Joshua Luke (Stephanie), Samuel Luke (Tabitha), Brittni Poper (Austin), Jesse Gardner (Jessica), Zack Caviness, Hannah Caviness, Yuri Akers, Caleb Akers, Levi Akers, Abigail Akers, and Hannah Akers; her great-grandchildren: Nolan Luke, Elijah Luke, Ezra Luke, Noah Luke, Joel Luke, Jonah Luke, Joshua Poper, Judah Poper, Hudson Gardner, and last but never the least, Charlotte Gardner; her sister-in-law, Dena Hawthorne; her niece, Stacy Hawthorne Tharp; and her grandnieces : Kelsey Cook (Timothy) and Chloe McKay.

Friends are invited to visit with the family between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, October 30, at Klein Funeral Home - Tomball, 1400 W. Main, Tomball, TX 77375. A funeral service celebrating her life and faith will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, October 31, in the funeral home chapel. Interment will follow in Decker Prairie Cemetery.

And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of their children - Isaiah 54:13