Mary Janet Cowan, 95, of Brunswick, passed away of natural causes on April 18.
Janet was born on March 12, 1921, in Edgewater Park, N.J., a daughter of Mary Sinex and George Lloyd Cowan Jr.
She graduated from Moorestown Friends School, N.J., and Mount Holyoke College, Mass., with a BA in English Literature. After college she lived briefly in Colorado and California. In both places she took advantage of available university classes in Shakespeare. When she moved back east she settled in Alna. She renovated the Old Alna Store where she held classes in Shakespeare appreciation. A talented artist herself, she brought in local artists to teach painting and sculpture at her Puddle Dock Art Center in Alna.
Janet enjoyed traveling to Europe, the highlight of which was the Shakespeare Festival in 1964 at Stratford-on-Avon. In 1984 she moved to Brunswick where she enjoyed attending Shakespeare classes at Bowdoin College. Even into her 90s her favorite reading was books on Shakespeare criticism. She was also an avid reader of the daily newspaper, always wanting to keep up with current events and especially politics.
She was predeceased by brothers, John Sinex Cowan, and George Lloyd Cowan III.
Janet is survived by dear friend and “adopted son,” Rodney Joslyn of Brunswick; sister, Margaret Cowan Moller of Round Pond; sister-in-law, Carolyn T. Cowan of Birmingham, Ala.; nieces, Mary Moller, Karin Moller, and Mimsy Moller of Oslo, Norway, Jenny Moller Leeman of Round Pond, and Elizabeth “Bunny” Cowan Bolton of Sterrett, Ala.; nephews, Charles F. Cowan of Media, Penn., John S. Cowan Jr. of Artesia, N.M., and David Cowan and Tynes Cowan of Birmingham, Ala.; and god-daughters, Janet Thomas Boccalini of Richmond, N.H., and Anne Thomas Oversier of Glen Arm, Md.
A private memorial will be held at a later date.