Janet Elaine Brown

March 23, 1945 to August 20, 2021

We would like to welcome you all to our celebration of the life of Janet.

Janet was born March 23,1945 daughter of Harry and Aidabelle Brown of Grand Junction, Colorado. She came into the world with an older sister, Mary Ann. Her young life was spent tagging along with her older sister and fawning over her cat Sugar, dressing her in sweaters and stocking caps. At the age of 12, when younger sister Debbie joined the family, Janet then focused her attention on the new baby. She coddled her baby sister, disobeying her mother’s pleas to “just let her cry”.

After graduating high school, Janet married and much to her delight, welcomed two sons in the world; Robert and John. Following her divorce, she returned to her family home, where her mother, father, sister and her two young sons became a happy family. Her boys became her passion and she soon became aware of why her mother had discouraged her from spoiling her sister. She fawned over her boys and they became the sharpest dressed boys in the neighborhood. The boys especially liked going to church in their bright blue velour suits. LOL

When the boys were young, Janet worked at Delta Products, where she was quickly promoted from the assembly line to a drafting position. She loved her job, but unfortunately the plant closed. At the time, her youngest son was in braces, so she convinced her son’s orthodontist that he needed an Office Assistant. She worked for Dr. Coward for a few years and then joined Dr. Orr at his practice. She loved working with Dr. Orr, his wife Gayle and the rest of the incredible staff. She remained here until she retired at age 67, a short time after Dr. Orr sold his business.

Janet enjoyed her career, but her big love was her family, followed closely by her pets and the NFL. She was full of life and fun and was up for any adventure when it included her family, whether it was following her big sis into trouble in the hills around their childhood home or being the biggest fan at family athletic events, horse shows and music performances. She cherished spending time with her grand kids, pulling pranks on them, and they on her. She loved watching them play video games and occasionally would attempt to teach them how to play as only Janet could.

Janet and her mother Aidabelle, were inseparable. These two were truly soul mates, weathering all storms together and enjoying all the gifts that life sent their way. As a team, they watched out for Uncle Alfred, Uncle Wayne, and Aunt Helen (who jokingly called Janet (“the boss”) as they aged. Janet was always thinking of others and was often there to help or give a special gift.

Although Janet was heartbroken by the loss of her precious mother, she took comfort in her loving family as well as her dogs and cats. Whether it was traveling, having fun and informative conversations with Rob and Ann, talking to her cousin Bill every night, chatting with John, spending time with Deb, or bragging about her grandkids, Janet lived life to the fullest.

Robert, John and Debbie share these memories about Janet…

We remember her big heart and her curious nature.

She was accepting of whatever situation she found herself in and was known for saying “Well it is what it is.”

Family was everything to Janet (as Rob always called her, much to her dismay). She was the glue that held us together.

She was prepared: packing a week ahead of time, vacuuming at 6:00 AM, having the lawn mown, trimmed and the clippings bagged by 9 AM.

She kept track of everyone’s age and birthdates. The first of the year she prepared everyone’s Birthday card and had them stacked and ready to send.

She made every meal work somehow, even if it was horrible or, say, yam pumpkin pie.

She loved her animals to a fault …. From feeding them just a bit more than they needed every day to making sure they were heathy, clean and bathed regularly.

She always took care of others (including the cats and dogs) before herself

She was always there for us when we asked for help and creepily knew that we needed help before we even asked.

She learned about many of the activities that we were involved in…gaming (more for herself), football, baseball, basketball, karate, running, and even watched Olympic volleyball and let John know the outcome of every game

She was a “Johnny- on -the- spot” sort of person, whether it be taking care of her chores or taking care of us, she had it done before we could turn around.

She was “All in”, whether it be needle point and knitting (showering her recipients with oodles of her creations) or her passion for Nintendo. We, the recipients of her gifts, agree that the latter passion was our favorite.