Obituary of Janice Colleen Liknes

Janice Colleen Liknes

January 8, 1948 ~ February 7, 2025

Janice was born in Consort, Alberta to Jean and Herb Bryan. She was the third born child after Betty and Marlene and older sister to Margaret and Les who completed the Bryan family.

Janice completed her schooling in Consort, graduating in 1965 with straight A’s. After graduation, Janice worked at AGT in Edmonton with her best friend Diane Walker-Liknes.

Janice and Darwin met in school and were quickly inseparable. They were married on November 4, 1967, and just celebrated their 57^th wedding anniversary. Janice and Darwin were blessed with a large and loving family. Their first son, Neil, was born in December 1967, followed by their first daughter Tracey in October 1969, Lois in 1973 and Murray in 1978. Janice’s family was her priority, and she always made sure that her family and kids came first in everything she did.

Janice and Darwin were a team in all of their endeavors. They worked for Darwin’s dad in Peace River early in their marriage before having the opportunity to buy a tank truck from Albert Ellerby. This led to them moving to Coronation for a few years where they ran their tank truck business from the trailer court before building their home in Throne in 1973.

After much success and a lot of hard work, they made the decision to sell the tank truck business and explore semi-retirement. In semi-retirement they started raising ostriches and boer goats, which led to the creation of the Throne Ostrich Ranch.

When Janice got the opportunity to operate the Veteran Auction Mart kitchen, she jumped at it. She loved every minute of her time there. Janice and Darwin decided to sell their home in Throne and try the town life which they soon found wasn’t for them, so they searched and searched and found an acreage outside of Innisfail where they built a new home and shop. It was at this time when Darwin invented a new gate system that led to Command Gate being born, mom running the office & dad installing the gates, Command Gates was to be a certain success just like all of their ventures together. Command Gates quickly became too large of a retirement hobby and after running it together for many years they made the decision to sell Command Gates to Murray and Angela who continue to carry on their legacy.

Travel was always a priority in Janice and Darwin’s lives and they had countless adventures in their motorhomes and boats. Even though they travelled to many different places, Hawaii was Janice’s favorite place.

Through all of life’s challenges and successes, one thing that always remained constant was Janice’s love for her family. She was a devoted mother, a loving wife, and a cherished grandmother. Her kindness, strength, and unwavering dedication to those she loved will be forever remembered.

Janice is survived by her loving husband of 57 years, Darwin Liknes; children: Neil (Stacey) Liknes, Tracey (Myron) Fawcett, Lois (Tom) Meier and Murray (Angela) Liknes; grandchildren: Nathan, Anthony, Christopher, Jared (Ashley), Robin (Kyle), Ivory (Kyle), Diesel, Colton, Ava and Claudia; great grandchildren:  Eve, Fletcher and Raylene; siblings: Betty Healy, Marlene (Bob) Arp, Margaret Kelts, Les Bryan and their families; sister-in-law Carolyn Deveraux; brothers-in-law Gilbert (Shirley) Liknes, Ron (Janice) Liknes and their families; as well as many other relatives and dear friends.

Janice is predeceased by parents Herbert and Jean Bryan; sisters-in-law Sylvia Barker and Diane Liknes; brothers-in-law Mel Healy, Bill Kelts and Harry Deveraux; nephews Randy Deveraux and Calvin Healy; great niece Myah Anholt.

Celebration of Life

Tuesday February 18, 2025 at 2:00 P.M.

Gem Centre, Consort, Alberta

Memorial donations are gratefully accepted to the Lakeroad Cemetery, c/o Box 309, Consort, Alberta, T0C 1B0 Red Deer Hospice, 99 Arnot Avenue, Red Deer, Alberta, T4R 3S6 or to a charity of the donor’s choice.