Janet Randall Brennan
Janet Randall Brennan, whose abiding warmth and enthusiasm for living made her an inspiration to those who knew her, passed away on July 5 at her residence in Lafayette, Colorado, after a brief illness. She was 94.
A family matriarch in the truest sense of the term, Janet’s greatest legacy is the love she showed for, and shared with, her three children, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren, on two continents.
Born in Philadelphia to Wayne and Mildred Randall, Janet graduated from Swarthmore High School and attended Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, before marrying Charles H. Brennan Jr. in October 1947.
A native of San Francisco, Charles had a career as an advertising executive that would take the family to Pennsylvania, Illinois, and California, then back to Pennsylvania and also to London, England, before his death in 1975.
With every move necessitated by her husband’s work, Janet quickly made friends and built a nurturing home for her growing family, making her presence felt in each community where the family landed.
In the 1980s, Janet was married for several years to Emmett Watson, with whom she resided in North Palm Beach, before that marriage ended in divorce. After that, she returned to her beloved Swarthmore, where she and her family had long been members of Trinity Church.
In 1991, Janet followed Charlie, her youngest son, to Colorado. She settled in Boulder, where she established a broad network of friends through worshiping and volunteering at St. John’s Episcopal Church, volunteering at the Emergency Family Assistance Association in Boulder, and participating in a local arts guild. Her passion for life’s enrichments was always evident: She audited classes in art and literature at the University of Colorado Boulder well into her seventies.
Finding love again late in life, Janet was married for the last time in August 2002, at the age of 76, to Arthur J. Power, also of Boulder. They were happily inseparable during their seven years together, enjoying travel, music, picnics, leisurely walks, and one another’s friends and families — including Arthur’s children, David, Brad, and Chris Power of Boulder, and Elise Power of Pittsburgh — until Arthur’s death in May 2009.
In Boulder, Janet lived for many years at Presbyterian Manor, where she helped tend the gardens. Janet loved orchids, knitting, the poetry of Emily Dickinson, and following the Colorado Rockies. She spent her final years at The Peaks at Old Laramie Trail in Lafayette, much loved and well cared for by its staff.
Janet is survived by her three children: Carol Brennan of Oxford, England; Michael Brennan of Saco, Maine; and Charlie Brennan and daughter-in-law Erin Brennan of Lafayette, Colorado. Janet will also be fondly remembered by her six grandchildren: Cordelia Stephens of Brooklyn; Benjamin Stephens of Brighton, England; Thomas Stephens and his wife, Anna Stephens, of Cold Spring, New York; Caitlin Brennan and Callie Brennan of Lakewood, Colorado; and Casey Brennan Hebb and her husband Jay Hebb of Boulder. Additional survivors include nine deeply cherished great-grandchildren.
She is predeceased by her brother, Thomas Randall.
Contributions in Janet’s name can be made to the Emergency Family Assistance Association (EFAA), in Boulder, Colorado. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, a celebration of Janet’s life will be scheduled later in the year.
