Janice Osborne Paul

Janice Lee Osborne Paul died the evening of Friday, February 12, 2016, surrounded by her beloved family at her son's home in Birmingham, AL. She was 87. Jan was born in Martin, a small town in the hills of eastern Kentucky, the second eldest of 11 children. At 18, she went to Nursing school. Upon graduation from Nurses Training, she began her career at a hospital in Paintsville, KY. She later joined the Armed Forces as an Air Force nurse, where she met the man who would be her husband of 63 years, Bill Paul from Atlanta, GA. Though she never learned to salute properly (her husband contended that she finally gave up the effort, settling for a smile and a friendly wave whenever someone saluted her on base), she took great pride in being a veteran. Her career in the Air Force was short lived, however, as she welcomed her son Alan into the world and went back into the private sector, working at Crawford Long Hospital as a surgical nurse. As her husband's career as an attorney began to take off, she left nursing to become a full time stay-at-home mom to her son and, a few years later, her two girls, Shannon and Jenny. Those are the facts of her life, but they do not capture the beauty of who she was. She was her husband's 'Mountain Flower', her children's rock and refuge, and her grandchildren's first understanding of truly unconditional love and acceptance. She found something worthy in everyone she met and made each person she encountered feel special to her - a part of her extended and extensive family. Her family recognized the treasure she was, but she always maintained that she was the lucky one to have such wonderful people surrounding her. She was convinced that her children were the finest people on earth, eclipsed solely by the miracles that were her brilliant grandchildren. Her nieces were like daughters to her, and her nephews like sons. She taught us all that truly loving someone does not mean that you don't see their flaws, but that their flaws don't matter in the face of how much you love them - in fact, our flaws make each of us uniquely loveable because our imperfections are what make us interesting and our stories worth telling. She passes on to meet her devoted husband, her beloved older sister, and three of her brothers, leaving her three children, Dr. Alan Paul (Karen), Mrs. Shannon Lince (Jim), and Ms. Jennifer Harrison (Brad Smith) and her six grandchildren, Ms. Suzanne Lince, Dr. Drew Paul, Dr. Lauren Dean (Colin), Ms. Rebecca Paul, Ms. Janet Lince, and Mr. Jake Harrison to mourn her loss and celebrate the light and love that was Janice Paul. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, February 20, 2016 at 11 a.m. at Scot Ward's Green Meadow Chapel with Pastor Nathan Hilkert officiating; interment will follow at Green Meadow Memorial Gardens. Family will receive friends Friday, February 19, 2016 from 7 until 9 p.m. at the funeral home. Condolences may be submitted on-line at www.scotward.com. Scot Ward Funeral Services, 699 American Legion Road, Conyers, GA 30012, 770-483-7216.

Janice Osborne Paul

September 10, 1928 - February 12, 2016