Janis Cynthia Zimmerman

Janis was born to Hazel and Ernest Pierce in Boise, December 21, 1935. She grew up in Boise alongside her older brother Jimmy and younger brother Burt. She graduated from Boise High in 1954 with a group of classmates that continued to get together monthly as well as traveling together. After high school, she attended the first nursing class offered at Boise Junior College, (now known as BSU). After graduation, she worked her entire career as a registered nurse, until attending the University of Washington and earning her Nurse Practitioner degree. She ended her career working for the State inspecting long term care and home care facilities. Throughout her career she always put the patient first.

In 1958 she married Willis Levis Zimmerman Jr. (JR) and together they had two wonderful children, Connie and Lee. After losing her husband in 1977, Jan focused on her career and her children. Later in life she met her life partner Kenneth Foster. Together until Kenny’s death in 1999, they square-danced, played cards, and traveled mostly in the Northwest.

After her retirement, Jan reconnected with her high school graduating class, and rekindled friendships. It was with this group that Jan decided to start traveling and although she had never been outside of the United States she decided her first trip would be to Borneo. After Borneo she traveled with the same group to Italy, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Although Jan complained that they served too much “Chinese food” in Borneo and there was too much wine in Italy, she enjoyed her travels. Jan was also an accomplished seamstress, making everything from clothes for grandchildren and her dolls to award-winning quilts. The family continues to enjoy the treasures she made.

Her bright eyes, big colors, and naturally curly hair (that never seemed to go grey) will be missed by all of us.

Jan died May 26, 2021. She was preceded in death by her parents Ernest and Hazel, her husband JR, and her brothers Jimmy and Burt, as well as her life partner Kenny Foster. Her death will leave a big hole in our lives but especially with her daughter Connie Zimmerman and her spouse Sheila Livingston and their dogs who cared for Jan for the last years of her life. Others that will miss her greatly are her son Lee Zimmerman and his wife Andrea Wahman, her grandchildren Erik Bushnell and Kier Zimmerman, and her sister-in-law Kathryn Pierce. No service has been planned at this time; however, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, a donation be made to the Shrine Hospital at www.lovettherescue.org.