Janet Patricia Jones (25 Mar 1962 - 16 Feb 2026)

In loving memory of Janet Patricia Jones, a beloved Wife, Mother and friend, who sadly passed away on 16th February 2026.

Janet's funeral service will be held at Mansfield Crematorium in the Thoresby Chapel on Wednesday 25th March 2026 at 1:15pm.

Donations in lieu of flowers are welcome and will benefit the PSPA.

If you would like to watch the service live from home, please use the login details below:
Website: https://watch.obitus.com
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Janet was born to Dennis and Gwen Law on March 25th 1962 in the British Military Hospital at Dhekalia in Cyprus.
Her father was serving with the Royal Air Force in Cyprus at the time, and as any forces child will attest this meant a life of travel along with her elder brother David and younger brother Martin. After a spell back in the UK Jan and her family also spent time in Elizabeth in South Australia, before settling back in Gloucestershire to complete her education at Ribston Hall School.
After achieving her O Levels Jan went on to further education at Gloucester Technical College, doing A levels which included a Law A level which would eventually, after a spell working at a local estate agents, lead to her joining a degree level course in Law at Leeds Polytechnic (now Leeds Metropolitan University).
This proved to be a fateful decision as it was on this course she met Denzil Jones, her future husband. They started dating just before her 21st birthday and were inseparable ever since, getting married on August 24th 1985 after achieving their degrees.
Neither went on to become lawyers however, with Denzil going into management with Granada Theatres and then into food retail, and Jan filling various secretarial roles across a broad range of industries before becoming a full time mother.
Following moves in Denzil's career which saw them move from Mansfield to Wakefield the pair finally settled in Burscough near Southport in Lancashire, where they would spend the next 21 years.
Jan went on to give birth to Darren in 1988, Ciaran in 1989, Nathan in 1991 and finally Melissa in 1994 to complete a happy and chaotic household!
The births and early childhoods were not without complications however, as Darren was nearly lost to septicemia at 12 weeks old, Ciaran spent time in intensive care following a traumatic birth and Melissa was delivered by emergency Caesarian. Unfortunately this left Jan suffering from post natal depression for many years.
As the children started to grow up Jan did not stand still but continued to broaden her education by completing an O level in Mathematics (which she had not previously gained) and also one in German, prompted by her elder brother marrying Claudia (whom he met while studying in Hamburg).
Jan also re-entered the labour market, at first in temporary secretarial roles, before being employed as an administration assistant in the School Nursing team.
During her time with the School Nursing team Jan became aware that a career in nursing appealed to her, and eventually successfully applied for a bursary to complete a Nursing degree at the University of central Lancashire in Preston. Jan found the studying and some of the placements both challenging and rewarding, but with the support of the family and a lot of personal drive she achieved a BSc in Nursing and started on her nursing career. She worked mainly at a clinic based at Preston North End's football stadium taking blood samples and giving injections.
Janet was not satisfied however, and looked around for other roles she felt would suit her talents and interests. She saw advertisements for careers in health visiting, and having had good experiences herself with experienced health visitors and a love of babies she applied for various degree courses. She was successful in gaining a place on a degree course at Derby University, and despite the sacrifices entailed she accepted the challenge. This came at a time of upheaval in the family as Melissa had left to university in Lincoln, leaving Darren as the only child at home and Denzil had started a new phase of his career with Sainsburys.
Jan took the momentous decision to leave Denzil working in the North West and move in with her mother in law back in Mansfield, with a view to him trying to gain a move back to the area when possible, and to sell the family home. Darren accompanied her in this move. It was immediately prior to this move that Jan first became aware of initial symptoms of her condition - although initial consultations at Aintree Hospital failed to reach a diagnosis, as the symptom was initially just a slowness in the movement of her left hand, affecting her ability to touch type.
Denzil was fortunate after a year or so to gain a position in Sheffield, and so the family eventually re-united in Mansfield moving into a new home in 2015.
Jan successfully completed her third degree qualification, gaining a BSc in Health Visiting, and took up a position with the team based in Bestwood in Nottingham.
Jan felt she had achieved her "dream job" and revelled in helping young mothers across Nottingham and seeing youngsters make the best start in life.
However, this was to be cruelly snatched away from her.
At first came a devastating mis-diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease, followed by various confused reactions from consultants when Jan's disease did not conform to their expectations. Later this was followed by an even more cruel diagnosis of a rare and untreatable neurological condition called Corticobasal Degeneration Syndrome. This is a rare condition and the prognosis was stark, with an average life expectancy from onset of symptoms of only 5-8 years.
Jan was completely devastated, but determined to carry on as long as possible and fight the inevitable decline.
The condition, caused by a protein called Tau in the brain clumping together and killing brain cells attacks the motor functions of the body. As a nurse Jan researched the condition and knew what to expect, and it was not pretty. Nevertheless she refused to give up, and carried on working in her "dream job" for as long as it was possible to do so.
Eventually the disease caught up with her and she had to make the agonising decision to take early retirement and relinquish her nurses pin number, which she found extremely difficult to do.
During the last few years Jan tried to focus on building memories with her family whilst attending a plethora of hospital appointments, including at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge (a recognised centre of study for her rare condition), where she would eventually donate her brain to the Cambridge Brain Bank to enable further scientific research into CBD.
In the last 2 years Denzil also gave up his job with Sainsburys to help care for Jan, along with the care team from Walfinch who had been caring for Jan for several years.
Jan eventually succumbed to aspirational pneumonia and passed away on February 16th 2026 at King's Mill Hospital in Mansfield.

The family would like to express their thanks to the teams at John Eastwood Living Well Centre, King's Mill Hospital, Neurology at Queens Medical Centre (Nottingham) and Addenbrookes Hospital (Cambridge), the palliative care team (especially Helen), Nottingham Social Services, the District nurses and the carers (past and present) from Walfinch Care Company for all the care and support provided not only to Jan but the whole family.