Janalene Ruth Nicklas Hamner

Janalene “Jan” Ruth Nicklas was born on September 8, 1934, in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, at Presbyterian Hospital, to James Russell Nicklas and Ruth Winona Bradley Nicklas. She passed away peacefully, with members of her family present, on January 3, 2026, in Mesquite, Clark County, Nevada.

Jan grew up in Pennsylvania alongside her sisters Lillian and Patricia and treasured her childhood memories of family, school, faith, and community. A gifted student and athlete, she went on to build a life marked by resilience, devotion to family, hard work, and faith. Over the years she lived in several states, raised her family, worked in public service as a clerk in the Superior Count of Ventura County, California, and cherished her roles as daughter, sister, wife, mother, and friend. Jan was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and found great meaning in the gospel and in the examples of loving families she encountered throughout her life. Jan was an avid researcher into family history. Wherever Rick and Jan traveled throughout the United States and England, she would be sure to stop and places meaningful to the family and collect records and memories.

She married Frederick Jordan “Rick” Hamner, with whom she shared many years of companionship and family life. She and Rick set lasting examples of hard work and play. They enjoyed camping, water skiing, dirt bike riding, sailing, and RVing and they passed this love of the outdoors to their children and grandchildren.

Jan is preceded in death by her husband, Rick, and her sisters, Lilian and Patricia, and is survived by her son, John, and her stepdaughters, Jordana and Kristi, six grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Family graveside services will be held in Paradise, California.

And Rick and Jan’s journey continue…