July 20, 1928 — April 24, 2015

Janice Behnke, 86, of Dowagiac, died Friday afternoon, April 24, 2015.

Family and friends will gather for visitation on Wednesday, April 29, from 3 to 6 p.m. at Clark Chapel & Cremation Services at 405 Center Street in Dowagiac.

A Celebration of life service will follow at 6 p.m. with Charles Burling officiating. Following the service, friends and family will gather at the Dowagiac Lions Club for food and fellowship. A private family burial will take place at Riverside Cemetery in Dowagiac at a later date. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Dowagiac Lions Club. Those wishing to leave a memory or condolence of Janice online may do so at www.clarkch.com.

Janice was born July 20, 1928, in Dowagiac to Karl and Rose (Krohne) Bakeman. She married William “Bill” Behnke on May 21, 1949, in Dowagiac, sharing 56 wonderful years of marriage before Bill’s death in 2005. Together they owned and operated Behnke’s Paint & Floor Covering store in Dowagiac for 49 years.

Janice loved her family and spent many hours at sporting events the children were involved in as well as many fun family gatherings. They spent summers at Cable lake enjoying the water and Janice was quite well known for her delicious cooking and pie baking, especially her blueberry pie and homemade coleslaw, just a few of the family favorites. She loved traveling the country enjoying the sights along with several trips to Europe with her husband, Bill. They enjoyed their times playing cards every Friday night with the Siffords and Kletts. Janice spent many hours at the Lions Club helping with dinners and special events with her husband and also volunteer her time with her son, Rick at the Cass County Sheriff’s department. She was quite the homemaker and loved all her family.

Janice is survived by one daughter and two sons; Lisa (Joe) Bradley of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Roger (Missy) Behnke of Portage, Michigan and Richard (Lorri) Behnke of Dowagiac. She also leaves behind 6 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. Also surviving are four brothers and one sister; Evelyn Williams of Dowagiac, Charles Bakeman of Niles, Ronald (Evelyn) Bakeman, Gerald (Sandy) Bakeman and Sonny (Leslie) Bakeman of Dowagiac. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bill, a daughter Jonne and son, Craig, and by three brothers, Richard, Robert and Ted Bakeman.