Janice “JJ” Lerich passed away peacefully at her home in Carlsbad, NM surrounded by family and friends on July 17 after a battle with cancer. JJ was born December 17, 1956, in Fort Worth, to Richard Carlous Jones and Gloria Jean Lewis Jones, while her father was serving in the US Air Force at Carswell AFB. As a young girl, JJ lived with her parents in Kyllberg, Germany until she and her mother moved back to the U.S. due to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The family came to Alamogordo, NM when JJ’s father was stationed at Holloman AFB where he served as an air traffic controller. JJ graduated from Alamogordo High School in 1974. She married Klad Zimmerle and they had a daughter, Desiree Sunshine. JJ met the love of her life, Scott P. Lerich, in Orogrande, NM in 1993 and they were married in May 1994 in San Antonio. Grandson Dean Anthony “Bubba” Thatcher was born in Anchorage, AK in 1997.