Janice passed peacefully in hospice in her room in Engel Place at Ross Manor, Bangor, February 7, 2025.
Janice Fay Campbell, aka Cakes by Jan, lived life on her own terms. She worked hard and played hard. She was a cake decorator, caterer, and businesswoman, in a time when that just wasn't done. When an eel truck went through her decorating supplier, she bought a building and started a business in Bangor to supply her and her fellow decorators' needs. When they called, she ran the Tarratine Club in Bangor serving area business needs. When a caterer was needed backstage for Seals and Crofts, Cakes by Jan stepped up. Such a flourishing business that her usual week would include working through the night on Fridays to make sure everyone's wedding cake, and every order was filled. Such amazing feats as a life size cake sculpture of a UMaine hockey player to celebrate their playoff win. With cakes in the shapes of everything you could imagine, her candy supply business grew.
Jan didn't just work. She had her motorcycle license, her private pilot's license, she painted, she skied, hiked, was a jeweler, a welder, and had a 1972 orange Corvette Convertible named Cupcake. Later in life, she fell in love with gardening and became a master gardener tending multiple gardens in and around her family homestead in Brewer.
Jan raised her three children to work hard and play hard. Karen, Tim, and Mike all worked in the family business through the years. She took care of her parents, and her sister, Linda, until their last days.
Jan was predeceased by her parents, Catherine "Kay" Bligh and Louis R. Bligh; her sister, Linda Giberti; her son, Michael Scott Campbell; her son, Timothy Laurence Campbell; and the love of her life, Doug McQuinn. Jan is survived by her daughter and guardian, Karen Campbell of Carrabassett Valley; friend and guardian, Sue Fitz of Glenburn; grandson, Garret Campbell of Amherst; grandson, Jacob Cambell and family of Brewer; granddaughter, Shannon Westphal and family of Bar Harbor; granddaughter, Asia Decker and family of Brewer; brother, James Bligh of Contoocook, NH; and brother, Robert Bligh of Mission, Texas.
A graveside service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, May 16, 2025, in the family lot of Mt. Hope Cemetery, Bangor. Relatives and friends are invited to meet at the Superintendents Lodge, State Street entrance, at 1:45 p.m. Those wishing to remember Jan in a special way, please support the Alzheimer's research of your choice and hug your family. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.
|