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Obituary for Janet Claire Greenman
Janet Claire Westbrook Greenman passed on January 2, 2019 after a short illness. She was born on November 14, 1925 in Loudenville, New York. She was the daughter of Russell T. Westbrook and Grace Wager Westbrook. Her family moved to Troy, NY when she was young. She attended and graduated from the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY. After one year at the University of Texas, she moved back to Troy and attended Rennselear Polytechnic Institute (RPI). In 1947 she graduated from RPI with a bachelors degree in architecture. Following her college graduation, she worked at the Cooperstown Historic Village in Cooperstown, NY for several years before meeting her husband, Tom Greenman. Tom and Janet were married in Troy, NY on October 2, 1954. As Tom was employed in the management trainee program with General Electric, they were transferred several times, ultimately landing in Erie, Pennsylvania. While living in Erie, Janet was active in the Junior League, participating in several plays and fund-raising activities. The family moved to Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Wellesley, Massachusetts and finally Boxford, Massachusetts. While living in Boxford, Janet devoted some of her time to restoring an old New England center hall colonial home built in the 1750s. Later in 1972, when General Electric moved the family back to Erie, PA, Janet used her architectural experience to design and oversee the construction of new center hall colonial house in Fairview, Pennsylvania. Some of the materials used in the construction of the Fairview house were originally collected from old houses when the Greenman family lived in Boxford some years earlier. Tom Greenman left General Electric in 1973 and moved the family up to Wilton, New Hampshire. In the 1980s Tom and Janet purchased an old New England house in New Ipswich, NH that was destined to be torn down. They had it taken apart and later re-assembled on property they had purchased in Wilton, NH. As the house was taken apart, several murals dating back to the 1810s were discovered under many layers of paint and wallpaper. Janet used her Cooperstown contacts to help restore the murals and re-install them in the walls of the new/old Wilton house. Again, Janet used her architectural experience to design and oversee the re-construction of this old New England farmhouse. In 2001, Janet and Tom moved into the Rivermead Retirement Community located in Peterborough, New Hampshire.
Janet's husband, Tom predeceased her, passing away in 2017. Her younger sister, Jane Westbrook passed away in 2016. Janet Greenman is survived by her older brother, Jack Westbrook of Saratoga Springs, NY, Her sons, Jeremy H. Greenman and his wife Irene (Spekhardt) of Glen Gardner, NJ, Christopher H. Greenman and his wife, Susan (Deas) of Montgomery, AL, grandchildren Colin Greenman, Cassidy Greenman, step-grandchildren Heather Reeves Coleman of Montgomery, AL, Joseph Joss Reeves of Durham, NH and Elizabeth Reeves Boger of Birmingham AL. Janet is also survived by her nephews Nicholas Westbrook of Old Lyme, CT, Kirkland Westbrook (DeeDee Westbrook) of Ballston Spa, NY, nieces Melissa Ackley (Don Ackley) of Williamsburg, VA and Kathryn Long (Christopher Long) of Ellicott City, MD, Virginia Westbrook (Crown Point, NY) and Carolyn H. Wood (Christopher Wood) of Sussex, England who lived with the Greenman family as a high school exchange student in the late 1960s.
The Greenman family would like to give very special thanks to the dedicated staff at the Rivermead Retirement Community for the outstanding care and attention they gave Janet Greenman and her husband Tom in their later years. A memorial service celebrating Janet’s life is planned for the late spring in Wilton, NH. For those interested in attending, please jgreenman9340@yahoo.com for further details.
