Janette Lucille Boyes-Randall

Janette Lucille Boyes-Randall

Janette Lucille Boyes-Randall, 66, of 4581 Loving Lane, North Garden, VA, 22959, died without suffering on Monday, September 19, 2011, at Martha Jefferson Hospital. The daughter of John Nurthen and Lillian Britzman, she was born October 15, 1944, at Tadcaster, outside York, England, in historic Hazlewood Castle, which was turned into a birthing hospital during the London evacuation. At age 12 she emigrated to Australia with her younger siblings David and Pam, leaving her beloved older sister Doreen and brother John behind. Despite striking out on her own at age 15, she completed nursing school in 1966 at Concord Repatriation General Hospital in Sydney and did post-graduate work in Australia and Tahiti, first earning an accreditation from North Ryde Psychiatric Hospital and then nursing pediatric patients under basic rural-hospital conditions. In 1968, she married Geoffrey Boyes, and had three sons, Michael Warren, now living in Esmont, VA, with his fiancee Leigh Herndon; David John, residing in Roanoke, VA; and Justin Geoffrey, currently in Eureka, California, with his wife Nichole and new son Finley Everett. Emigrating to the US in 1979, Janette divorced in 1989, then married a fellow RN, William Randall, in 2007. In 2009, she returned to Australia for an enchanting reunion. Specialized in Emergency Medicine, Janette nursed literally thousands of patients in Australia and environs; at Stonewall Jackson Hospital, Lexington, VA; at Easton, MD, as a travel nurse; and at University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, VA, until her retirement in 2007 after 41 years. She garnered accolades and friendship from many of those she helped, from the physicians, and from her nursing colleagues, including those whom she led or prepared for two Haiti relief missions in the 1990’s. She was especially accomplished in advanced adult and pediatric life support, triage, and forensics.

She spent her final years in love with her husband and loved by her growing family, including her new grandson and her niece and grand-nephew Kim Debra and Lucian Bernard Hawkes of Malden, England. Wonderfully, she was able to visit all three of them and return to her birthplace as a “royal” guest in her last two months. Along the way she became a world traveler, created delightful Chocolate Mousse and beautiful gardens, and especially enjoyed singing with the “Living Christmas Tree” choir in Lexington. As an irrepressible collector, she filled her home with her precious rocks and shells and other tiny wonders, reflecting the colors and miracles of her life and world. Janette was supported by her dear friends, among them Kay Plummer, her nursing schoolmate; Francis “Funny” Lackey, her delightful neighbor; and Patty Kidd, her nursing colleague and travel companion. Her greatest love, however, was caring for others, embracing humanity in a way we can only struggle to match. Her watchwords ever seemed to be pure enjoyment of life, help everyone, and unconditional love. She now rejoins family and friends who have passed before, welcomed by the vast host of souls she touched. She will be sorely missed.

Remembrance and celebration services will be at Alberene Church, 3061 Alberene Church Lane, Esmont, VA, at 1 p.m., October 8, 2011, including scattering of ashes at graveside. All are welcome to attend or privately reflect on her wonder at that time. Family and friends may then renew enjoying life as Janette would want, at Michael and Leigh’s home nearby. Instead of flowers, Janette requested donations to any Yorkie rescue organization.