Janice Burquest Toebben

Janice Burquest Toebben

September 1, 1947 – October 11, 2026

"Just a skosh more," Jani would say, holding out her glass with a smile. It was her favorite request, and it was also how she lived: a skosh more adventure, a skosh more kindness, a skosh more people squeezed into every group photo. Janice "Jani" Burquest Toebben, 79, died Sunday, October 11, 2026, at her home in Lawrence with her family around her.

Jani was an original. She was classy, tasteful, and always stylish, a Senior Vice President who managed the wealth of Los Angeles' most private clients. She was also silly and endlessly fun, just as happy on a pool float with a deck of cards and a good laugh as she was in the boardroom. Pearls and pool floats. That was Jani.

Early Life

Jani was born September 1, 1947, in Winona, Minnesota, to Burton and Ruth (Engdahl) Burquest. Minnesota is where her lifelong love of water began, on the lakes, on water skis, and in the backyard her dad flooded each winter to make an ice rink. She kept those skating skills well into adulthood.

When the family moved to Wichita, Kansas, her best friend made sure Minnesota didn't let her go, bringing Jani back for summers at the family's lake house. Jani graduated from Wichita East High School in 1965. During her senior year she was named Countess of Cash, foreshadowing what she didn't recognize at the time.

Education and Career

At the University of Kansas, Jani lived in Lewis Hall, where she met future Pi Beta Phi pledge sisters and lifelong friends. In her final months, they showered her with love through cards, notes, flowers, and meals. The heavenly Pi Phis have surely claimed another angel.

She earned a BA in social work from KU in 1969 and a BS in business administration from Auburn University in 1972. Then, because enough was never quite enough, she went back for just a skosh more and earned her MBA from KU in 1983.

The Countess of Cash, it turned out, had known her calling all along. Janice's banking career took her from Lawrence to Cincinnati to Los Angeles, and she stayed with the same bank through every one of its name changes. She retired two months shy of 40 years in banking as Senior Vice President in the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank in Los Angeles. She was a hard worker and a fierce ally to her colleagues.

Wherever her career took her, Jani's heart stayed close to Mount Oread. She served for many years on the KU School of Business Dean's Advisory Board, a role she was especially proud of, giving back to the school that helped to launch her.

Love and Family

Word on the street was that Gary needed to meet Janice, and Janice needed to meet Gary. With Gary at the helm of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, it's hard to believe it didn't happen naturally at an Eggs and Issues breakfast or a Business After Hours, but it took a little nudging. Their first date was at Nabil's, where Fifi kept a special table for them for years to come.

When they married in 1990, they had two houses, two churches, and four kids in four different schools. But Jani was never simply additive. With her, one plus one never equaled two. It added up to something much bigger: one family, and in time, nine grandchildren.

She pushed both Gary and her kids to be and do more, while always supporting exactly who they were. Most mornings, Jani and Gary were out walking before 6 a.m.; in later years, they spent those walks praying for their family.

Somehow, while doing everything else, she also found time to sew her kids' Halloween costumes, year after year. No holiday was too small for Jani. She celebrated every single one, and made sure everyone around her celebrated too.

That same big heart reached beyond her own family. When Jani was matched with an elementary student in Northern Kentucky through a reading program, she and Gary soon welcomed not just her student but both of the girl's sisters. They spent Saturdays taking the girls on adventures, baking cookies, and doing crafts, offering a stable and caring presence until Jani and Gary left Northern Kentucky in 2006.

She Truly Saw People

Jani befriended everyone, and it often seemed she knew everyone in town. She saved her favorite servers' names in her phone's contacts so she would never forget them. You could watch a person's face change when they talked with her, because they could tell that Jani truly saw them.

A serial optimist, she saw the best in people, and helped them see it in themselves. She was a thoughtful gift giver and a devoted writer of cards. She loved bringing people together, and she documented it with a group photo, every single time, often to the groans of her kids. We would give anything to groan through just one more.

Serving Her Community

Her kids never managed to keep track of all of Jani's years of service, and we know we are missing some. She modeled giving back in everyday ways: extra meetings after church, giving away our extra TVs, and taking us along to deliver Meals on Wheels (until a young Wyatt pulled the fire alarm at Vermont Towers). Over the years she served with Rotary, the Boys & Girls Club, the Northern Kentucky Airport Board, and the Santa Barbara YWCA. Closest to her heart was Plymouth Church, where she was a member for 50 years, served on countless boards, raised funds for capital campaigns, and treasured the friendships she found there.

Adventures and Passions

Jani never met an adventure she didn't want just a skosh more of. She explored the Galápagos, swam in the Antarctic Ocean and at the top of Victoria Falls, hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim, and summited many Colorado 14ers with Gary and the kids.

She was a fearless skier. When she shattered her hip on a tree, her first question was how soon she could get back on the slopes. Getting off a ski lift with Devon and granddaughter Josie, she said, "Promise me that you will ski with your grandkids when you are 72!" Then, of course, she made everyone stop for a picture.

In her final years, she loved hosting pool floats and happy hours in her backyard. She was a fierce competitor at double solitaire and Kings in the Corner, and she treasured her bridge groups, the only time M&M's were ever allowed in the house.

Family

Jani is survived by her four children: Devon Haase Kim (Tony), Wyatt Haase (Ann), Andrew Toebben (Julia), and Seth Toebben; nine grandchildren: Jonah Kim, Emeth Toebben, Josie Kim, Matthias Toebben, Fyodor Toebben, Sawyer Haase, Becket Toebben, Teo Toebben, and Kai Toebben; her brother, Mark Burquest (Wanda); and her sisters-in-law, Beverly Toebben and Sue Wolfe (Dan).

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Gary Toebben, in 2022, her sister, Dianne Morris, and her parents, Burton and Ruth Burquest and her stepmother, Irene Burquest. Jani and Gary got it right, and we know they are dancing together now, as giddy as they could be.

Janice's family is deeply grateful for the care she received from Dr. Sharon Soule and the team at the LMH Health Cancer Center, and from the remarkable staff of A Helping Hand Home Care and VNA Hospice.

Services

Jani will be laid to rest beside Gary at Oak Hill Cemetery on October 15 in a private ceremony. A Celebration of Life will be held Thursday, October 29, at 2:00 p.m. at Plymouth Church, with a reception to follow at Maceli's from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Memorial contributions may be made to Plymouth Church, the Bert Nash Youth Recovery Center, Children's Advocacy Center of Douglas County, and KU Endowment.

If you want to honor Jani, ski with your grandkids. Send a thank you card. Learn your server's name. Take the group photo, even when everyone groans. She gave everyone around her just a skosh more, and we would give anything for just a skosh more of her.