Richard B. Janice
Richard B. Janice — Camden Fire Department
Richard B. Janice was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1930 to Harry R. Janice and his wife, the former Irene Jane Sullivan. He was the sixth of nine children, coming after Harry Jr., Mary, Bertha, Irene, and Catherine, and before George, Evelyn, and John. Sadly, both Mary and John died in their first year. The family was living at 237 Byron Street in the Poet’s Row section of North Camden when the Census was taken in April of 1930. Next door at 235 Byron Street lived the Brendlinger family; both Richard Janice and Ed Brendlinger, who was two years older than young Richard, would go on to long careers as members of the Camden Fire Department.
Richard Janice’s father Harry R. Janice Sr. worked at the Kind & Knox gelatin factory at North 5th and Erie Streets in North Camden. By 1942 the Janice family was living at 320 Bailey Street. Harry Janice Sr. had been promoted to foreman at Kind & Knox by 1947. Older brother Harry R. Janice Jr. later went into politics and served as a member of the Camden Board of Education in the 1950s. Harry Janice Sr. passed away in 1957. The family moved from Bailey Street in the 1960s.
Richard Janice enlisted in the United States Navy and served for four years, mostly aboard the USS Waccamaw AO-109. The Waccamaw was a replenishment oiler in the United States Navy. She was named after Waccamaw River. The original capacity was 146,000 barrels (23,200 m³). Waccamaw was laid down on 28 April 1945 by the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania and launched on 30 March 1946. It was the last of five oilers in the Mispillion class.
In September 1948, Waccamaw was assigned to duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean and, in the spring of 1949, was transferred to the 2nd Fleet for exercises in the Caribbean. A second tour of the Mediterranean followed in the early part of 1950 and a third in 1951, the latter extending to nine months. After a shipyard overhaul at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1952, Waccamaw participated in the development of the Thompson-Arwood method of fueling destroyers at sea in heavy weather. In 1953, the ship made her first midshipman cruise, which included a visit to Edinburgh, Scotland. During the summer of 1954, Waccamaw was again in the Mediterranean for her fourth tour with the 6th Fleet. This was followed by logistic services in the western Atlantic and Caribbean. On a second midshipman cruise in 1955, she visited Copenhagen, Denmark and Edinburgh, Scotland. In the fall of 1955, the ship entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for overhaul and proceeded to the Caribbean for training the following spring.
Having completed his military service, Richard B. Janice returned to Camden. He was appointed to the Camden Fire Department on November 16, 1956. New Jersey Bell Telephone Directories from 1959 through 1970 show him living at 238 North 32nd Street in East Camden. By 1977 he had moved to 214 North 37th Street where he is listed through 1992. He later moved to Haddon Heights, New Jersey.
In the early 1990s Richard Janice served at Engine Company 7 in the second platoon, with Captain Vincent Ardire and fire fighters, David Hicks, George Wilson, and Frank McGuckin.
Richard Janice served the City of Camden for over 40 years. He retired on June 1, 1997.
Richard Janice resided in Atlantic City in his later years. He passed away on September 11, 2012, survived by six children, thirteen great-grandchildren and four of his siblings.
USS Waccamaw (AO-109)
USS Waccamaw (AO-109) — off Newport R.I., November 16, 1954
2 Boys Rescued From River Rafts
Camden Courier-Post —
Some 300 parents and children stood on the bank of the Delaware River in Pyne Poynt yesterday and watched as members of the Camden Fire Department and Philadelphia Harbor Patrol rescued two Camden boys adrift in the river on rafts.
The boys, identified as Edward Ruiz, 13, of 710 Bailey Street, and Gigi Cooper, 11, of 553 Bailey Street, were put ashore from the harbor patrol boat on the Camden side of the river and taken to Cooper Hospital, where they were treated for exposure.
John H. Dawson, 40, 1607 Park Boulevard, a Globe Security guard working at the Pyne Poynt Junior High School, said a boy on a bike road up to him and pleaded:
“Please help my brother, he’s in the river on a raft.”
Police identified the boy as 12-year-old Richard Ruiz.
Informs Mother
The younger Ruiz boy then rode to his home and told his mother of what had happened. The boy and his mother, Annie, 34, ran back to the river’s edge, according to police.
Richard Janice, 36, and Winfield Myers, 40, of Engine Company No. 6, rowed some 400 yards against the current in a 14-foot rowboat and picked up the Cooper boy from a four-by-six-foot wooden raft.
The harbor patrol boat rescued Ruiz, who was about 100 yards beyond Cooper on a six-by-six-foot raft made of two wooden doors. Ruiz and Cooper were taken back to shore by the harbor patrol boat.
Warning Due
The mothers of both boys were waiting at the river’s edge but were not reunited with their sons until after they were dismissed from the hospital.
Camden Public Safety Director Keith Kauffman said he will hold a press conference today and issue a warning that parents should keep their children from playing near the river.
Richard B. Janice
Camden Courier-Post —
Richard B. Janice, on September 11, 2012, age 82, of Atlantic City, NJ, formerly of Camden and Haddon Heights. Devoted father of Michael Janice, Richard Jr. (Brenda) Janice, Steven (Susan) Janice, Sharon (Benjamin) Masino, Gregory Janice, and Douglas (Cathrine) Janice. Loving grandfather of thirteen and loving great-grandfather of two. Dear brother of Catherine (Jack) McPherson, George (Joyce), Evelyn O’Brien (Dennis), and Irene Klock; also numerous nieces and nephews.
Mr. Janice was in the Navy for four years, refueling tanker USS Waccamaw. Retired from Camden as a firefighter after forty years.
Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend his viewing Sunday evening, 6–8pm and Monday, 9–10:15am at Emmaus Catholic Community Church (Sacred Heart location), 7 W. King’s Hwy., Mt. Ephraim, NJ. Mass of Christian Burial Monday, 10:30am at the church. Interment New St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bellmawr. Arrangements by Mahaffey-Milano Funeral Home, Mt. Ephraim, NJ.