Janet is a lifelong Minnesotan whose roots run deep in both northern Minnesota and Minneapolis. The daughter of a bridge builder, Janet moved several times as a child. She grew up in northern Minnesota and spent part of her childhood in Duluth before her family settled in Minneapolis when she was in sixth grade and the city became home for the rest of her life. She attended Washburn High School, enjoyed her school years, and later studied nursing at the University of Minnesota.
Janet married her husband, Frank, at age 21, and together they raised four children. The couple experienced the heartbreaking loss of their oldest son, Skipper, at age five. In the wake of such tremendous loss, family remained at the center of Janet’s life, and many of the family’s happiest memories were made on summer road trips, camping adventures, and canoe excursions through places like the Boundary Waters and the Crow Wing River.
Fluent in Norwegian, Janet has traveled to Norway three times and shared her love of the language by tutoring Norwegian at Augsburg University and leading a Norwegian book club. She has long been active in her community, volunteering with Meals on Wheels, supporting social justice efforts through her church, and embracing recycling long before it became commonplace.
Janet loves Minneapolis, animals, babies, crossword puzzles, and paging through old photo albums while sharing stories about the people in them. An avid gardener, she filled the busy corner around her home with colorful flowers that brought beauty to the neighborhood.
Today, Janet enjoys good conversation and simple pleasures. She would likely enjoy spending time with a new friend over coffee, browsing a bookstore, taking a walk, playing Scrabble, reminiscing over photographs, or chatting in Norwegian about places, people, and memories from a life well lived. She lives with her large, friendly cat, Kitty.
