On February 16, 2022, a band of angels came down and escorted this beautiful lady, Janice Toler Bonilla, to her rightful place in Heaven. She died in Fort Smith, Arkansas and she will be greatly missed.
Born on September 21, 1931 in Macon, Georgia to Nathan Toler and to Bertha Mae Toler, nee Manning, she moved to San Francisco, California while she was in her teens. She was preceded in death by her parents, Nathan and Bertha Mae Toler; by her beloved daughter, Elaine; and by her beloved pet, the gorgeous Pekingese Taipan of Cavanal.
Janice is survived by her college sweetheart, her husband of 66 years, Richard, of the home; by her son in law, Lt. Col. Arthur Alphin, U.S. Army (Ret.), of Bozeman, Montana; by her beloved godchildren, Mr. Rodney and Princess Melaney, and their loving parents, Gillman and Dr. Emilia Rebello, of Ossining, New York; by her adored adopted granddaughters Gabriella and Annika, by their loving parents, AnnaBeth and Troy Saidleman of Austin, Texas, and by their equally priceless grandparents, Judith and Benjamin Curtis, of Poteau, Oklahoma; by Tjaden family, Rachel, Scott, Benjamin and Jack, of Denton, Texas; by her beloved friends, the Cooper family, Jody, Janet, Matthew, Alicia, and their children; by Charlene and Ray Baggs; by Bobby Joe Mendoza and his Tennessee family, Jackie and Jackie and Bob and Dennis; by her brother in law, Oscar Bonilla of San Salvador, El Salvador and his family; by her loving friends Susan Jenson, Michelle and Tracy White, Shelly Castleberry Free, Linda Brooks, Hannia Rees and her beautiful Callie and Case, Trina and Rick Ward, and by countless friends all over the world.
Janice attended Mercer University at Macon, Georgia; San Francisco State University at San Francisco, California where she met the love of her life; Hasting College of the Law, also at San Francisco, California, and Carl Albert State College in Poteau, Oklahoma. Janice was a trailblazer: in the mid-1980’s, Janice went to work at a private bank in New York City, Congress Factors, and within 3 years she went from an entry level position to the post of Vice-President in charge of Collections, the first woman to reach that position in the industry. Supervising a staff of 56, she annually collected billions of dollars and remembering how hard it had been for her, she proceeded to train women and minorities in that discipline. She was so successful that she partnered with La Guardia Community College to give work experience to its students.
Janice loved life. She enjoyed traveling and was equally at ease entertaining in our apartment in Geneva, Switzerland as she was hosting our 33rd Wedding Anniversary party in Tashkent, Uzbekistan; she loved walking the grounds of the Kremlin, and Red Square, in Moscow, Russia, as much as she loved visiting the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Rajistan in Samarkand; equally at home in Hong Kong, in Casablanca, in Madrid, in Mexico City, in Marrakesh, in Macao, Janice was the quintessential traveling companion.
And now Janice belongs to the ages. She was one hell of a broad…and she will be missed.
An informal celebration of her life is scheduled on Friday, March 4, 2022 at the Lowrey Museum beginning at 4:00 p.m.
The museum is located at 303 Dewey Avenue in downtown Poteau, Oklahoma.
You are cordially invited and the family requests that no flowers be sent.
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