Janet Ellen Kerrigan, 60, passed away in the comfort of her family at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin on Wednesday, December 3, 2014. Born in Brooklyn, NY, on Christmas Day, 1953, she was the daughter of Peter J. and Rosemarie A. (Yonkers) Graus. On August 18, 1974, she married John P. Kerrigan in Smithtown, NY.
Janet was a 1972 graduate of Smithtown (NY) High School. While attending high school and following graduation she worked at St. John's Episcopal Hospital before embarking on a long career working as a clerk and carrier for the United States Postal Service. Janet began her vocation at the East Setauket (NY) Post Office and then following her marriage and moving to Blackwood, NJ, she was employed at the Haddonfield (NJ) Post Office.
Coming to Vermont in 1976 and settling in South Duxbury, Janet worked at the Burlington City Post Office before joining the U.S. Postal Inspector's Office, also of Burlington. She then was employed at the post offices of Montpelier, Waitsfield, Warren and Moretown, retiring in 2004.
There were many facets to the life of Janet Kerrigan: a gifted artist, talented in countless areas of crafts, an avid gardener and cook, her love for all animals. In addition to working and raising her children whom she adored, she was loving and supportive of her husband's coaching career and all of her children's activities. Janet enjoyed all that Vermont had to offer in the outdoors including hiking, biking and skiing. Her husband John spoke of three words that captured the essence of Janet, "sweet, kind and gentle."
Janet is loved and mourned by her husband of 40 years, John P. Kerrigan of South Duxbury; their children, Ryan P. Kerrigan and his companion Robyn Andersen of Stowe and Kacey Rose Kerrigan and her fiancé Eric Greene of Waterbury Center; her parents, Peter and Rosemarie Graus of Ormond Beach, FL; her sisters, Susan A. Lampach and her husband John of Nesconset, NY, Lorraine J. Armenti and her husband Frank of Sound Beach, NY, Rosemarie A. Graus of Manassas, VA, Nancy L. Fitzpatrick and her husband Kevin of Milan, NY, and Florence J. Stiles and her husband Steven of Clarkston, MI; as well as nieces, nephews and extended family. Janet was predeceased by a nephew, Philip Armenti.
The Funeral Mass from St. Andrew Catholic Church in Waterbury for Janet E. Kerrigan is postponed until Monday, December 15, 2014, at 11 a.m. due to the winter storm. A reception will follow the service in the church Parish Hall. The family has requested that flowers be omitted; rather memorial gifts would be appreciated to VTXC (Vermont Cross Country), c/o Stowe Nordic Foundation Inc., 291 East Tamarack Road, Stowe, VT 05672 (www.stowenordicfoundation.org), or to North Country Animal League, Assisting the family is Perkins-Parker Funeral Home in Waterbury. To send online condolences visit www.perkinsparker.com and Facebook.
{loadnavigation}
