Janice Pence, a Lawrence woman whose friends had been helping her raise money for cancer treatments in Switzerland, died early Thursday morning. She was 69.

“At first it was kidney failure, and then her liver failed,” said Maria Butler, the oldest of Pence’s four adult children.

“The doctors don’t think it was related to the cancer treatments,” Butler said, noting that Pence had struggled with hypertension and diabetes for several years.

In 1996, Pence learned she had carcinoid tumors, a rare, slow-growing form of cancer. Between 2001 to 2005, the tumors spread to her liver, pancreas, bone marrow, spine and breast.

Pence’s doctors referred her to a hospital attached to the University of Basel, Switzerland, for treatments not yet available in the United States.

Using a nephew’s spare frequent-flyer miles and a few thousand dollars raised among friends and relatives, Pence and her niece, Norma Bloom, of Lawrence, went to Switzerland for three days in mid-June. A second trip was planned for mid-September.

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“She was a fighter,” Bloom said. “It seemed like she was plagued with health problems most of her life. But she never gave up; she kept going. She fought it every inch of the way.”

Bloom added, “She really wanted to spend time with her grandkids.”

Pence and her then-husband, Fred, started Pence’s Garden Center, 15th and New York, in the mid 1960s. They divorced in 1986, after which Jan Pence owned and operated The Flower Shoppe and Bridal Fashions by Jan, 1101 Mass., until 1993.

A memorial service is planned for 11 a.m. Thursday at St. John The Evangelist Church, 1229 Vt.