Obituary of Janet M Cook
Janet Mary Cook entered into Eternal Rest on September 15, 2019. Born to Mary (Goulette) and Fortunat Tarte on March 16, 1935, in Vergennes, Vermont, Janet was raised on the family dairy farm and was the oldest of six children.
Family was always important to Janet. She was active in the lives of her immediate family at a young age, helping to raise her siblings. She formed special bonds with each one throughout their lives, and her siblings were her best friends.
Janet met her husband of 61 years, Robert “Bob” Cook, in Burlington, Vermont, while he was serving in the United States Air Force. They were married on July 25, 1959, and soon joyously welcomed their first child. They later moved to Otis Air Force Base in Wareham, Massachusetts, where Bob finished his military service, and then moved to Omaha, Nebraska, to pursue life as civilians. There Janet cultivated a life with her new family, while still remaining close with her Vermont family and friends through many calls, letters, and visits.
While living in Omaha, they cherished the birth of their second daughter. In 1970, the family was once again on the move. Janet, along with their daughters, followed her husband to Chadron, Nebraska, so he could take a new position with Mountain Bell Telephone Company. Their third child was born several years later, a much-beloved son. Career opportunities kept coming for Bob and, as a result, the family moved to Elkhorn, Nebraska, and then finally back to the east coast, settling in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Besides being a caring wife, Janet was a dedicated mother. She treasured her children and embraced every moment with them. She especially loved her role as Nana to their six grandchildren. She had a vivacious personality and always made people around her laugh and feel special. She made friends everywhere she went.
Throughout her life, Janet was fond of saying ‘life is for the living’ and she led by example. Janet enjoyed collecting art and jewelry, going to antique shops and designer show homes, fashion, music, the ocean, yellow roses, animals and especially horses, travel, painting and drawing. She was a wonderful cook, delighting her family with many holiday parties and gatherings, and she was a generous and thoughtful gift-giver. She was particularly proud of babysitting and caring for many children in all the places she lived, and keeping up on their lives as they grew up. She had a special interest in health and nutrition, and was credited by her husband for his longevity. She explored all aspects of what life had to offer and shared that sense of adventure with her family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, an infant granddaughter, Arianna Rose, as well as her siblings: Dorothy Kieslich, A. Lorraine Turner, Pauline Greenough, and Maurice Tarte, all of the Burlington, Vermont area, and Roger Tarte, of Waleska, Georgia.
She is lovingly remembered by surviving family: her three children Theresa Barron (John) of Loveland, Colorado; Jacqueline (Chris) Jensen of Sandy Hook, Connecticut; Allen Cook of New York, New York; her grandchildren Matthew, Andrew, and Thomas Jensen; Sarah, Joseph, and Noah Ternes; special friend Lorraine Dumais of Burlington, Vermont, and many in-laws, nieces and nephews.
A private Mass of Christian Burial was held on September 21, 2019, at St. James Parish in Basking Ridge. Interment was at Holy Cross Cemetery in Basking Ridge; funeral arrangements by Gallaway and Crane Funeral Home in Basking Ridge.
