Janet Spaulding

Janet Ruby Putnam was born on August 29, 1929, in Rutland, VT to Ruby and Harry Putnam. While she was born in the middle of the Depression, she had no memories of deprivation as she was surrounded by the love of her grandparents, and an aunt and uncle. She remembered never having a lot of money but spent happy summers working in the garden and winters sliding and skiing on the hill behind the house. She would tell you often that the very first ski hill in the country was established right there in Bridgewater and ran skiers up to the top with the use of a rope tow.

Jan was educated in a two-room schoolhouse and when it came time for high school, rode the bus to Woodstock where she graduated Salutatorian, ahead of her future husband Warren Spaulding. An accomplishment she shared with glee.

Growing up, Jan worked as a mothers’ helper until she was old enough to work summers and on Saturdays during the school year at the Bridgewater woolen mill shop. Janet was a daddy’s girl and her favorite memories are of spending time fishing with her father Harry who worked during the week at the mill. She remembers the two of them rushing to get the house clean and dinner ready for Ruby when she arrived home from working Saturdays in the mill shop. Somehow, Jan’s parents managed to save enough to send her to college at the University of Vermont where she earned a BS in Home Economics in 1951. Jan taught locally until Warren graduated from West Point the following year and they married in 1952 at the Church of Our Savior at the Mission Farm in Sherburne. Warren’s first military assignment was to El Paso, Texas where Jan continued to teach in border schools where the students were forbidden to speak anything but English. Jan worked as a substitute teacher in many of their duty stations around the country and sometimes even for her daughter’s classes, much to their embarrassment. In those early years, military wives had trouble finding jobs because employers knew they would not be in the area for long. They were also expected to put support for their husbands first; attending military functions, and hosting events in their homes. Often, as Jan remembers, it was the wives who were left to pack up the household and move the family every two to three years, only to be responsible for unpacking and setting up the new household in a new state while the husband reported for duty.

After their second move to Niagara Falls, NY, Warren and Janet returned to Vermont for the birth of their first child Lynne just before Warren deployed to Korea. He left when the new baby was only three weeks old. Jan and Lynne were able to travel to join Warren in Okinawa a year later. Her father Harry drove them across the country to Fort Lewis WA . This was the first time he had ever been out of Vermont. He delivered them to a troop ship where they spent the next 14 days below the waterline suffering from motion sickness. Jan remembers being told if her husband wasn’t at the point of entry they would have to travel on to Japan. Thankfully Jan could see Warren jumping up and down in the “corral” of officers waiting for their wives and he collected them for the drive to their new “monsoon proof” quarters. Lynne didn’t recognize her dad after such a long time and took a while to warm up.

Second daughter Sara came along when they were stationed back at West Point. Warren had returned to teach there, and from there the family spent a year in Lawton, OK and heading back to Vermont again for a while before Warren deployed to Germany. You guessed it, Warren went on ahead and Janet moved with the two girls to meet him in Schwabisch Hall near Stuttgart. This time they traveled by air but the journey involved losing three engines having to return once to LaGuardia, then a stop for repairs in Newfoundland, and finally another stop in Scotland. Jan shared that this was not a pleasure trip taking two days traveling with seven-year-old Lynne and two-year-old Sara.

While at Dolan Barracks in Germany, the family made lifelong friends and added another daughter, Mary Ellen, better known as Mimi. The family returned to the states in 1963 and were stationed in Montgomery, Alabama, following by another move packing up the car for the drive to Albuquerque, NM. This was one of Jan’s favorite places, and where she and Warren talked about retiring one day. While stationed at Sandia Base, Jan’s beloved father Harry died unexpectedly and her mom Ruby came to live with them. Ruby became the after-school caregiver when Jan was working, and would often bake donuts, cookies, and wonderful bread warm from the oven to greet the girls as they arrived home. But Ruby was not an easy addition to the family for Jan. Ruby lived with the family traveling around the country with them until her death in Golden, CO at age 95.

From NM, the family moved to Ft. Carson, Colorado but after only a year, Warren was assigned to the Pentagon in Washington DC. While there, one of the highlights for Jan included attending a review of the Presidential Honor Guard by President Nixon in the Rose Garden. For the girls, living in one place for five years meant they were able to stay in one school; however, one of those years Warren served active duty in Vietnam. This was a long, lonely year for Jan who had to stretch the monthly budget a long way for food, clothing, household utilities, the mortgage and all while maintaining the household, and “fetching and carrying” for three very active girls. Jan kept all the letters she exchanged with Warren during that year, some shining a little light on what would be a 70-year love story. While in VA, Lynne completed high school and started college at Mary Washington University and Mimi finished elementary and middle school. Sara was looking forward to starting 10th grade when the news came about Warren’s assignment to the University of Boulder. He was to serve as the Professor of Military Science for the University of Colorado. Jan was happy to be moving back to her second favorite state; however, the stay in Boulder was short lived as Warren got a plum assignment to attend the Naval War College in Newport, RI. After graduation, he was asked to stay and serve as the Senior Advisor to the president of the Naval War College. While Jan was finally in officer’s quarters in Newport, a dream she had until then had the opportunity to experience. However, the more than 100-year-old home was a lot of work for she and Ruby as they were in constant need of repair and upkeep. She and Warren did enjoy living near the ocean in Newport and were able to watch the Tall Ships enter the harbor during the country’s bicentennial celebration. They attended many parties and even toured a couple of the historic ships. Finally, in 1979, Warren retired and he and Jan made the decision to head back to Colorado, settling first in Lakewood and then to an historic farm house at the foot of South Table Mesa in Golden. While Jan had returned to substitute teaching for a while, she branched out and worked at a local fabric store and eventually got her travel agent license. She also served on the first Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum and then became a docent traveling around the state with Warren to present quilt shows sharing the history and beauty of the art of quilt making.

The adventures weren’t over for this world traveling couple however. In the fall of 2001, Warren arrived home from work at the Colorado School of Mines as Registrar and asked Jan if she wanted to go to Abu Dhabi. She responded with “Abu who?” and a few months later traveled with Warren and other members of the Colorado School of Mines faculty to the United Arab Emirates to begin work establishing a Petroleum Institute. Much to the concern of their daughters, they had arrived just two weeks prior to 9/11 but after the horrific attack on the U.S. they reported everyone they met offered their condolences and support. They spent six months on that first visit to the UAE and returned three more times, once with Jan in a leg brace after she broke her knee skiing at Loveland. This was her “good” knee. She had been skiing since her late 60s with a brace after losing her ACL in a fall skiing. She said if John Elway the then Broncos quarterback could play football without one she could certainly ski. When she damaged her ACL, the doctor told her she was too old for replacement surgery. He clearly didn’t know she would bike across Europe and continue to ski well into her 80s. When she broke the other knee, she wouldn’t let Warren continue to ski without her so they both hung up the boards in 2010 but continued to enjoy watching from the ski lodge as their grandchildren and great grandchildren took up the sport.

In addition to her volunteerism with the Quilt Museum, Jan served on the altar guild for both St. Paul’s church in Lakewood and for many years with the ladies at Calvary Church in Golden. She and Warren also hosted the McBride Honors Students from Colorado School of Mines at their home each semester and twice a year planned trips to Washington D.C. to visit monuments, embassies and offices of Colorado Congressmen and women.

An avid seamstress, Jan made matching outfits for all three girls as they grew up. As they reached high school and planned weddings, Jan’s expertise extended to creating prom, bridesmaids and wedding dresses. Her creative skills didn’t stop there, and she could often be found in the midst of a new project including needlepoint, rug braiding, knitting, or some other craft. She also had a wonderful sense of style and always set an example that was exactly right for the occasion.

Her grandchildren and great grandchildren were a source of tremendous joy for Jan. She was a constant presence at soccer games, cross country events, theater performances and musical recitals. Camping, hiking, skiing and white water rafting also topped the list of favorite family activities along with celebrating the holidays together.

Jan weathered the many moves as an army wife with grace and developed lifelong friendships around the world. Jan provided an example and a legacy of strength and service that her daughters, grandchildren and great grandchildren will carry on. Jan is survived by her daughters Lynne Wagner (Joe), Sara Spaulding (Bruce), Mimi Davis; granddaughters Liz Deveau (Dave) and Rebecca Thurston; grandsons Mike Wagner (Erika), and Max Thurston (McKenna); and great grandchildren Annabelle and Kensington Deveau and Isla and Huck Thurston. A celebration of life will be held on Monday, August 22, 2022, at 10 a.m. at Calvary Church 1320 Arapahoe St, Golden, CO 80401. In lieu of flowers gifts may be made to Calvary Church in Jan’s name.