Janis Anne Babson was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, the second of six children of Harry Rudolphe "Rudy" Babson, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, and Rita Quinn. When she was a year old, the family relocated to the Ottawa suburb of City View (later Nepean; now part of the megacity of Ottawa). The Babsons were Roman Catholics: from her earliest reasoning days, Janis showed an avid and insatiable curiosity about God, creation and humanity's purpose. At age four, after hearing the story of the Holy Family's quest for shelter, she said, in part, "They could have had my room," and resolved never to be too busy to help others. At St. Nicholas Elementary School (now St. Nicholas Adult High School), Janis was not only an exemplary student, but popular with children of all grades because of her upbeat personality and sensitivity to the needs and problems of others. Shortly after her eighth birthday, she read about the martyrdom of St. Agnes and wondered whether she herself would ever have courage comparable to that of this saint, should she ever need it. On her mother's advice, she began to pray regularly to the saints for such courage. The following February, Janis was intrigued by a TV special presented by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind as part of its annual "White Cane Week." Through the special, she learned about the CNIB's Eye Bank in Toronto and, for what was to be only the first time, told her parents that should she predecease them, she wanted her eyes to be donated. Shortly afterward, Janis began to suffer headaches, backaches, and attacks of nausea and fatigue. One day in early March, she came home from school suffering from severe fatigue. The next day, the Babsons' pediatrician, Dr. James Whillans, found her blood count low and, a day later, she went to Ottawa Civic Hospital. After a week of tests, Dr. Alexander English, hematologist, diagnosed her with acute leukemia and gave her not more than a year to live. In order to let her (and her siblings) live as normally as possible, Dr. English advised her parents not to tell her about the gravity of her condition. Janis was in the hospital for over a month; after that she had to make weekly visits to its cancer clinic, where she served as a comforter to other child patients. By the end of April, Janis's illness was brought under control by means of medication, blood transfusions and a salt-free diet; but in October she suffered a relapse and was forced to give up such beloved activities as skipping, running and jumping. This she took in stride as God's will. By the summer of 1960, her blood condition appeared normal; but this was feared to represent only a temporary remission. In December she won a Christmas-card-selling contest at school: her prize was a book entitled, "St. Therese and the Roses." After reading it, she began to see St. Therese as her "big sister in heaven," and decided to become a missionary Sister when she grew up. By February of 1961, Janis's illness had spread to her spinal nerve area: no longer able to walk the single block from her home to St. Nicholas School, she had to stop attending. She began to go in and out of hospital but accepted this, too, as God's will, and continually prayed for a cure. On May fourth, Janis was hospitalized one last time. She realized then that, as a doctor confirmed to her parents, she would not be cured; she learned the nature of her illness when, in her presence, a nurse carelessly mentioned it to an intern. Now she prayed in preparation for her journey to heaven. At about 9:25 on the evening of the 12th, she died in her parents' arms. As per her oft-stated wishes, her eyes were donated: the corneal tissue gave sight to two people in Toronto. On the 31st, the Ottawa Journal's Tim Burke devoted his "Below the Hill" column to an account of Janis's life of faith, courage and giving. As the weeks passed, similar pieces appeared in newspapers all over Canada and the world, bringing the Babsons letters of sympathy and praise from far and wide (Ottawa's then-mayor Charlotte Whitton and the RCMP's then-Commissioner Clifford Walter Harvison were but two of the writers). Also in Toronto, the Star's own article on Janis, Dick Snell's "A Little Girl Shows Us How to Die," prompted retired local pharmacist Abe Silver to donate $1,000 to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There a "Janis Babson Memorial Endowment Fund" was established for prizes in cancer research, with a special focus on leukemia. In 1962 Sister Mary Rose Martyr of the Sisters of Holy Cross in Montreal, using the pseudonym Rena Ray, published a biography of Janis entitled, "Janis of City View." Its 10 chapters were serialized in the Ottawa Journal from May fifth to 16 inclusive. The following year saw the publication of Lawrence Elliott's own biography of Janis, "A Little Girl's Gift": a condensed version, "The Triumph of Janis Babson," appeared in that year's June issue of Reader's Digest. A variety of large-cupped narcissus was named after Janis.
Janis Anne Babson was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, the second of six children of Harry Rudolphe "Rudy" Babson, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer, and Rita Quinn. When she was a year old, the family relocated to the Ottawa suburb of City View (later Nepean; now part of the megacity of Ottawa). The Babsons were Roman Catholics: from her earliest reasoning days, Janis showed an avid and insatiable curiosity about God, creation and humanity's purpose. At age four, after hearing the story of the Holy Family's quest for shelter, she said, in part, "They could have had my room," and resolved never to be too busy to help others. At St. Nicholas Elementary School (now St. Nicholas Adult High School), Janis was not only an exemplary student, but popular with children of all grades because of her upbeat personality and sensitivity to the needs and problems of others. Shortly after her eighth birthday, she read about the martyrdom of St. Agnes and wondered whether she herself would ever have courage comparable to that of this saint, should she ever need it. On her mother's advice, she began to pray regularly to the saints for such courage. The following February, Janis was intrigued by a TV special presented by the Canadian National Institute for the Blind as part of its annual "White Cane Week." Through the special, she learned about the CNIB's Eye Bank in Toronto and, for what was to be only the first time, told her parents that should she predecease them, she wanted her eyes to be donated. Shortly afterward, Janis began to suffer headaches, backaches, and attacks of nausea and fatigue. One day in early March, she came home from school suffering from severe fatigue. The next day, the Babsons' pediatrician, Dr. James Whillans, found her blood count low and, a day later, she went to Ottawa Civic Hospital. After a week of tests, Dr. Alexander English, hematologist, diagnosed her with acute leukemia and gave her not more than a year to live. In order to let her (and her siblings) live as normally as possible, Dr. English advised her parents not to tell her about the gravity of her condition. Janis was in the hospital for over a month; after that she had to make weekly visits to its cancer clinic, where she served as a comforter to other child patients. By the end of April, Janis's illness was brought under control by means of medication, blood transfusions and a salt-free diet; but in October she suffered a relapse and was forced to give up such beloved activities as skipping, running and jumping. This she took in stride as God's will. By the summer of 1960, her blood condition appeared normal; but this was feared to represent only a temporary remission. In December she won a Christmas-card-selling contest at school: her prize was a book entitled, "St. Therese and the Roses." After reading it, she began to see St. Therese as her "big sister in heaven," and decided to become a missionary Sister when she grew up. By February of 1961, Janis's illness had spread to her spinal nerve area: no longer able to walk the single block from her home to St. Nicholas School, she had to stop attending. She began to go in and out of hospital but accepted this, too, as God's will, and continually prayed for a cure. On May fourth, Janis was hospitalized one last time. She realized then that, as a doctor confirmed to her parents, she would not be cured; she learned the nature of her illness when, in her presence, a nurse carelessly mentioned it to an intern. Now she prayed in preparation for her journey to heaven. At about 9:25 on the evening of the 12th, she died in her parents' arms. As per her oft-stated wishes, her eyes were donated: the corneal tissue gave sight to two people in Toronto. On the 31st, the Ottawa Journal's Tim Burke devoted his "Below the Hill" column to an account of Janis's life of faith, courage and giving. As the weeks passed, similar pieces appeared in newspapers all over Canada and the world, bringing the Babsons letters of sympathy and praise from far and wide (Ottawa's then-mayor Charlotte Whitton and the RCMP's then-Commissioner Clifford Walter Harvison were but two of the writers). Also in Toronto, the Star's own article on Janis, Dick Snell's "A Little Girl Shows Us How to Die," prompted retired local pharmacist Abe Silver to donate $1,000 to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. There a "Janis Babson Memorial Endowment Fund" was established for prizes in cancer research, with a special focus on leukemia. In 1962 Sister Mary Rose Martyr of the Sisters of Holy Cross in Montreal, using the pseudonym Rena Ray, published a biography of Janis entitled, "Janis of City View." Its 10 chapters were serialized in the Ottawa Journal from May fifth to 16 inclusive. The following year saw the publication of Lawrence Elliott's own biography of Janis, "A Little Girl's Gift": a condensed version, "The Triumph of Janis Babson," appeared in that year's June issue of Reader's Digest. A variety of large-cupped narcissus was named after Janis.
