Dr. Janice Boyce

Dr. Janice Beth Boyce passed from this life on May 5, 2026, in Lubbock, TX, at the age of 80.

Janice was born in Fort Worth, TX on May 20, 1945, to Jewel Dean Cooper, who was working at the General Dynamics Factory, manufacturing for the war effort. Janice grew up in Duncan, Oklahoma, inheriting her mother’s love of gardening and gift of cooking. Janice graduated from Duncan High in 1963, after marrying Larry Boyce in 1962. Over the years, they moved around Arkansas and Texas, ultimately renovating a house in Fort Worth. Three weeks after she finally got her butcher block countertops, a tornado destroyed their house in May of 1981. Not one to be daunted, she ended up building three more houses on the same street.

Janice loved to learn, and with two elementary-aged children at home, she enrolled at Texas Christian University (TCU) to follow her lifelong love of culinary arts and earn her bachelors in Home Economics. Janice also worked as a travel agent and later obtained a real estate license.

She then went on to earn her Masters from TCU and her Doctorate of Philosophy from Texas Women’s University in 1990. Her love of learning carried over into a love of teaching. In the early 1980s, Janice demonstrated the new flashy Litton microwave oven in department stores around Fort Worth. Later, she taught in the culinary and hospitality departments at TCU, the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and Texas Tech University, retiring in 2015.

Janice cared for her children and grandchildren, as well as her many students and neighbors. Many times, this care was expressed in food. She could create elegant meals and tablescapes, from a properly set, multi-course gourmet event to a beautiful Christmastime standing rib roast, though her children unaffectionately remember creative meals like “ham jello” and canned salmon patties, and her grandchildren enthusiastically remember that one time she let them eat Lucky Charms with vanilla ice cream for breakfast. Her house has an estimated 1000 cookbooks stashed throughout, and she usually had her TV tuned to a cooking show.

She loved reading a good book at home, her backyard garden, linen clothing, Birkenstock shoes, coffee, pastries, irises, Canadian geese, traveling, especially to the British Isles, the annual Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, and turquoise jewelry. She lived with honesty, generosity, faithfulness, and effortless style.

Janice is preceded in death by her mother Jewel Dean Nance and her stepfather Floyd D. Nance.

She leaves behind her daughter Jan Louise Webb and her husband Charlie Webb; her son Larry Dean (Teresa Cuellar) Boyce; her grandchildren Shelby (Chai) Green, Chase (Nicole) Webb, and Allie Beth Webb; 6 great-grandchildren; her former husband Larry (Fran) Boyce; her cousin Herb (Sharon) Lomax and Gayle (Missy) Lomax; and a backyard full of stray cats.

A memorial service will be held at Sunset Church of Christ, 3723 34th St, Lubbock, TX 79410, at 11:00 am on May 15, 2026. In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions to Sunset Church of Christ’s 5th Sunday Ministry, which supports members of the congregation who are in need.

Cremation arrangements are under the personal care and direction of Combest Family Funeral Home and Crematory.

For those unable to attend services, Sunset Church of Christ will be livestreaming the services at https://www.youtube.com/live/YSoCPKvyXX8?si=KIPjpTze_CCAaF8M.  If you have any issues regarding the livestream, please contact Sunset Church of Christ at 1-806-792-5191.

FLORISTS - All flowers for this service are to be delivered to Sunset Church of Christ on Friday morning, and not to Combest Family Funeral Home.