Janet Buness, 78, passed away on Oct. 8, 2024.
Services will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at the Presbyterian Church. A reception will follow at the Nolan Center, with a dessert bar, coffee and soft drinks. Dessert donations are welcome.
Graveside services will be private.
Janet was born Nov. 25, 1945, in Willits, California, to Rex and Marian Lamm. She joined an older sister, Patricia. After her father died, the family moved to Brookings, Oregon.
Janet attended grade school and graduated from Brookings High School. She attended the University of Oregon in Eugene and received a degree in nursing.
It wasn't too long before the lure of Alaska called her and she arrived in Wrangell in 1967, beginning her career at Bishop Rose Hospital as a floor nurse.
Emma Ivy was the hospital administrator at the time and recognized Janet's capabilities and potential. She soon promoted her to director of nursing services, a position she held until she stepped down in July 2009.
She continued to work at Wrangell Medical Center, taking care of pharmacy, infectious disease control and disaster emergency preparedness. She retired in June 2015. Her career in Wrangell spanned over 45 years. She was recognized twice nationally for nursing excellence, in 1996 and 2022.
She served as president of the Alaska Nurses Association in 1984-1985 and as a delegate to the national association.
Although she held an administrator's license and filled in as interim administrator at Wrangell hospital multiple times, she always refused to take the job full time - nursing was what she loved doing. Before medivac services existed, she would often be the flight nurse on flights to Ketchikan or Sitka with the U.S. Coast Guard or Stikine Air.
Wrangell Medical Center and Cancer Care Foundation created the Janet Buness Award, recognizing individuals or organizations that worked to improve health care in the community.
When Janet first arrived in Wrangell, she was very active in women's softball, bowling, running the river and camping. Later on, she enjoyed the challenges of crafts with her needlepoint, beading and basket weaving. By far, her biggest and favorite craft was quilting. She never sold any of her works, instead gifting them to family and fundraisers.
She started dating Terry Buness in 1976 and they married in 1984. They had two sons, Ian and Colin. She spent many hours watching Little League, basketball, wrestling and volunteering at food booths. When the boys were young, they would go on summer car trips. After retirement, she continued car trips by herself and her dog.
Janet is preceded in death by her mother Marian; father Rex; sister Patricia; and son Colin.
She is survived by her husband, Terry; son Ian, of Eagle River; niece Katheleen (Tony), of Cove, Oregon; niece Megan (Phillip) Heisel; nephews Chris Chuck and children of Island City, Oregon, Eugene (Peggy) Anderson and Duane (Sherry) Anderson, of Brookings, Oregon.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Wrangell Medical Cancer Care Foundation, P.O. Box 2175, Wrangell, AK 99929, or Medic One Foundation, 325 9th Ave., Seattle, WA 98104.
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