Janet Clarke Mann

Janet Clarke Mann died unexpectedly in an accident on June 11, 2024. She was born November 23,1945 to Harvey and Harriet Clarke. She was the only girl with three brothers. Raised in Spokane, she graduated from Saint George’s School, the first of three generations to attend the school. She graduated from Scripps College and shortly after graduation married Paul Mann. She and Paul attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, where their son John was born in 1969. Graduate studies took them to Oxford University where their daughter Genevieve was born in 1972. They returned to Spokane in 1976 and their third child, Elizabeth, was born in 1977.

Although she had studied for a Master’s in Teaching, Janet never taught. She thought about becoming a lawyer and worked for several years as a paralegal. She found that work enjoyable, but stressful, and eventually decided to take a hiatus. Bored with idleness she told Paul “I am going down to Vanessa Behan and hold babies for an hour or two a week”. And that’s when Janet found her calling. She was an active volunteer and quickly became their volunteer coordinator. She saw the huge need for foster parents and then informed Paul that they would become licensed. Between 1988 and 1994 they cared for more than 40 babies and toddlers, many of them medically fragile. In the process Janet saw that while foster care kept babies safe, the very act of protecting the child created a barrier to reunification. Working with both child and parent while keeping them together seemed logical, but there was no mechanism for doing that. So, they did it.

In 1994 Paul retired and the Manns created a nonprofit called the Children’s Ark. They formed a Board, bought and remodeled a large house in Browne’s Addition, and moved in with as many as four moms and babies at a time. It soon became clear that in order for young moms to parent safely they needed to be parented themselves. Janet did that. She came to see that an intensive therapy component was necessary and this developed in conjunction with the innovative Circle of Security Project. Over the years the program evolved with the addition of a remarkable staff, wonderful providers, and a host of intensive services. The program moved from a residential to a day treatment model but continued to serve at-risk families until 2010. There was nothing exactly like it in the United States.

After retiring from the Ark, Janet teamed up with Professor Molly Kretchmar of Gonzaga University to write a book about the Children’s Ark. Together they conducted presentations and trainings around the Country. Janet’s 2021 TEDx talk, “People, Not Programs, Change People” can be found on Youtube.

Janet’s love for children and babies was the foundation for her career, but there was so much more to her. Above all, of course, was her family. Janet and Paul had a partnership and love that most hope for – they supported each other in their individual endeavors and loved being together. She found special ways to connect with each of her adult children and their spouses – always full of wise, non-judgmental advice. Her four grandchildren were seen and celebrated for who they were. Janet loved her bicycle and rode 20 miles on the morning of her death. She loved hiking, skiing, the Spokane Symphony, Neil Diamond, meditation and yoga, Gonzaga Women’s basketball, Lake O’Hara, and life downtown at the Ridpath. She was a voracious reader and loved to buy books for others. Janet liked true crime TV shows. She did not like cooking (or even eating, really). She had no time for casual chit chat or small talk, preferring true conversations with depth and meaning. Relationships were what she loved and she could relate to any one of any background. She worked very hard to build, maintain and nurture her deep friendships.

Janet is survived by Paul, her husband of 56 years, her three children, John (Shyre), Genevieve Mann Morris (Dan), and Elizabeth Willis (Hal), and her grandchildren, Jack, Sam and Maggie Morris, and Holly Mann, and her brother Don of Sacramento. She was predeceased by her parents and brothers, Bill and Ric. We will honor her wonderful life on Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 3:00pm at St. George’s School, 2929 W. Waikiki Road. Donations can be made to Vanessa Behan or Saint George’s School. Celebrate her life: live with kindness and compassion