Obituary: Janet Hall Mansfield Gómez

The following obituary was submitted to Patch.

Janet Hall Mansfield Gómez passed away on December 12, just three days before her 91st birthday. She was born to John Waterbury Mansfield and Joy Lucretia Hall in Madison, Wisconsin on December 15, 1925, the youngest of three children and last surviving sister to Lois Plowman and Curtis Mansfield. Her Great Grandfather John Darrow Waterbury was an early Wisconsin settler who surveyed most of Jefferson county and environs, and her Grandfather Mansfield was one of the first dentists in the area.

Janet came from a family who believed in education. She recalled her great-grandparents, grandparents and parents all received higher education. Her mother Joy attended a music conservatory and taught piano, her Aunt Ada taught school and was the town librarian.

Janet grew up on the family farm in Lake Mills during the Great Depression. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1945, earning a B.A. in Liberal Arts with a major in Spanish and Portuguese. Afterwards she traveled to Mexico City to further her studies and lived there for nearly a year. When she returned to the States she met Gil Gómez, whom she married in January 1947. They raised three children in Chicago and later Lake Bluff where they lived for 56 years. Janet worked at Abbott Laboratories for nearly 38 years as a personal assistant to Dr. Hardtop and later as a proofreader. After retirement she and Gil traveled extensively but they loved their home and were enthusiastic cooks and gardeners.

All her life Janet was a voracious reader who seemed to absorb books rather than just reading them. Janet was an active member of her book club, the Women’s Circle at Grace Methodist Church, AAUW and volunteered for many worthy causes. Janet had lively opinions on current events and loved to engage in topical discussions around the dinner table.

Surviving Janet are her three children: Dr. Adrianna (Gerrit) Dangremond, Michael (Kristina), Margaret (Barry) Kemp, as well as four grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday 7 January at 11:00 AM at Grace Methodist Church in Lake Bluff. Interment will be in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Journeycare.org or OrphansoftheStorm.org