In Memoriam - Janice Beck

Janice Beck was born July 11, 1939 and was raised in Spokane, Washington. Janice and Jim were married 55+ years. They moved to Oregon in 1958, living in their Woodburn home since 1974.

Janice traveled every inch of the Wallowa Mountains on horseback and was clearly the designated photographer as she herself never appears in any photos, although her husband Jim appears now and again.

Janice's first job was working in the admissions office at Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, working evenings and weekends while still in high school. After graduation she moved to the night shift. Her most uncomfortable moment while working at Sacred Heart was processing her high school typing teacher for admission -- asking personal questions and having to type the answers (without error of course) on an old manual typewriter.

Early in their marriage, Janice and Jim decided to get a dog. Like many first time dog owners, Janice looked to the classified ads for her first puppy. She wasn't looking for a Cairn. In fact, she and Jim answered an ad for a Wire Fox Terrier. They had both decided on a male. Janice knows today that the breeder was actually a local puppy mill. The Wire Fox turned out to be only 7 weeks old and was a female in very poor health. When the breeder realized they weren't interested in the female Wire Fox, she quickly presented them with a 4 month old male Cairn. Janice and Jim handed over their $35 and became the proud owners of their first Cairn Terrier named Fuzz. They hadn't been without a Cairn since answering that ad.

Fuzz learned to travel everywhere with Janice and Jim. He traveled on horseback, but preferred the ground where he could hunt along the way.

Janice's first homebred champion was Ch Terrytown Cavalier. His call name was Bumby. In the early '70s there were very few local shows. Janice considered a "local" show anything within 50 miles of home.

For a club newsletter Janice was asked what bothered her about Cairns today and her reply was size, sculptured grooming and short muzzles. She prefered a Cairn closer in size to the American standard and sculptured grooming wasn't for her. She felt strongly that developing shorter muzzles created some serious issues in the Cairn mouth, notably missing, crooked, and smaller teeth. She felt Cairns should have all their teeth and they should be BIG!

Janice was a stalwart of the Terrier Association of Oregon and a foundational member of both the Cascade and Columbia River Cairn Terrier clubs. She was also a member of the national club.

Janice had a gift with a paintbrush and turned many a Westie figurine or piece of statuary into rather attractive and credible Cairns!

Janice devoted much of her adult life to the rescue of displaced Cairns. She spent countless hours training and conditioning these little critters for new and loving homes. She would often bring before-and-after photos of these rescues to meetings, along with anecdotes that would characterize each little dog's personality and quirks. She did a lot of work for love of the breed, and to find these dogs the perfect forever homes.

Janice was generous, helpful, hardworking. She could easily have been a Cairn herself.

Janice passed on June 11, 2014.

As a club and as friends, neighbors, and fellow Cairnites, we are grateful for all she did for us and for the breed. We will remember her and we will miss her.

Janice showing her import Craiglyn's Sport for the first time in the United States. Judge Richard Renihan awarded 2 points towards his AKC championship. August 13, 1978

August 2008, Janice finishes Jane Stump's male Ch. Furclan's Judge Patton Presiding