Mrs. Peggy Ann Janis (née Herzog) passed away on Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Annapolis, Md., with her daughter Jennifer by her side. She was 83 years old.
Peggy embodied love and gentleness in everything she touched and built a life of courageous devotion. Her five kids learned from her steady hands and capable heart. She was a registered nurse and a company bookkeeper, and she built a family who, while moving for work, always returned to the ocean.
After attending Sacred Heart Academy in Tampa, Fla., and earning a nursing degree from Florida State University, she worked at University of Florida’s Shands Teaching Hospital and served as president of the Student Nurses Association. As a registered nurse, she worked for the National Institute of Health and Salisbury General and Atlantic General hospitals. She was calm and efficient when patients needed her most and often handled tough situations that made novice nurses turn away.
She met her husband, Al Janis, in Rehoboth Beach. He showed up with fresh flounder from the morning’s catch, which she cooked for her parents who were in town. That started a partnership that would span decades and state lines.
The work and the family grew together: Raising five kids while moving across New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland as the work demanded, they eventually built and owned three golf courses, and Peggy managed accounting and business operations when needed. When winter slowed construction, she picked up nursing shifts at local hospitals.
They were road warriors who traveled up and down the East Coast and across the country by car and RV with kids and dogs along for the ride. Peggy was a natural caretaker and made sure everyone was fed with home-cooked meals, cozy with comforting blankets, and happy campers.
She was the mother holding a warm towel at the water’s edge, waiting for her kids to come out of the cold ocean. She shuttled kids to swim team, camps, church, and school, no matter where they landed, and welcomed the parade of cats, dogs, hamsters, birds, fish, and ferrets her kids brought home. Fishing and beach time became their reprieve, a way to catch their breath between work and the constant motion.
Peggy and Al always found their way back to the ocean. They raised their kids near Ocean City, Md., and spent winters escaping to Chokoloskee Island deep in the Everglades, where the quaint community offered a break from tourism and a return to small-town life. In later years, they settled near Chincoteague Island, where Peggy enjoyed the quiet dune grass beaches, world-class bird-watching, and the annual pony roundup.
She was creative and remarkably resourceful. Her handmade Halloween costumes were sometimes worn year-round. Cooking with intuition rather than recipes, her Maryland crab cakes were better than any restaurant’s, and somehow, simple lasagna tasted better than anywhere else on the planet. All of her children and grandchildren inherited her love of cooking, each with their own specialties.
Peggy is survived by her husband, Al Janis; her daughters, Jennifer, Jolyn, and Jacquelyn; her sons, Alyn Jr. and James; her sisters, Ellen Ficarrotta, Catherine Perez, and Nancy Eckert; her brothers, Edward Herzog and David Herzog; and her grandchildren, Charlotte, Rocco, and Oliver.
She was predeceased by her parents, Lawrence Martin Herzog and Sarah Louise Coleman Herzog.
A viewing will be held on Friday, Feb. 6, at The Burbage Funeral Home in Berlin, Md., from 4 to 7 p.m.
A mass will be held the following day, Saturday, Feb. 7, at St. Mary’s Star of the Sea Church in Ocean City at 10 a.m.
A burial will follow the mass at Sunset Memorial Park in Berlin.
Condolences may be sent to the family via www.burbagefuneralhome.com
Arrangements are in the care of The Burbage Funeral Home — Berlin.
