Janet Leach Stebbins of Hanover Center, died at her home on Thursday, October 28, 2021, peacefully and in comfort with her family by her bedside. Jan was born July 30, 1934 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the only child of Henry Groves Leach and Isabel Walker Leach. Jan grew up in various towns in Massachusetts, including Salem, Manchester and Fitchburg. She attended Oak Grove School, in Vassalboro, Maine, and graduated from Abbott Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, in the Class of 1952. After studying at Fisher Junior College in Boston, Jan came to live with her mother in Thetford, and worked at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and for the Aloha Camps. In 1958, Jan married Richard L. Duncan. Through Dick’s naval service, journalism school at Columbia, and his career with Time, Inc., they and their two daughters, Anne and Hope, lived across North America, including Newport, Rhode Island; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Bethesda, Maryland; Ottawa, Ontario; and Pacific Palisades, California.
In 1975, Jan returned to the Upper Valley after her divorce, buying her home in Hanover Center. She worked as a legal assistant in Norwich and for the Aloha Foundation in Fairlee. In 1984, Jan married John Stebbins in a ceremony at the Hanover Center Church officiated by John’s father, Jack Stebbins. Jan loved to travel with her husband, particularly on their trips in Europe. Jan came to enjoy all things French. Jan was known as an outstanding cook and had a passion for collecting cookbooks with which she surrounded herself. She also enjoyed gardening, crossword puzzles, following professional tennis, reading, and, of course, her children and grandchildren. One of her happiest events in recent years was when her daughter Hope came to live in Orford and both of her daughters were now close to her.
Jan is survived by her husband, John Storrs Stebbins, of Hanover Center; her daughter, Anne S. Duncan Cooley, and husband, Edmond S. Cooley, of Orford; her daughter, Hope W. Duncan, and husband, James A. Beaulieu, of Orford; her grandson, Zachary D. Linzer, of Breckenridge, Colorado; and granddaughter, Isabel A. Linzer, of New York, New York.
Special thanks is given by the family to the caregivers at CarePro and to the nurses of Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire.
Donations in Jan’s memory may be made to Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, 88 Prospect Street, White River Junction, VT 05001.
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Janet Leach Stebbins of Hanover Center, died at her home on Thursday, October 28, 2021, peacefully and in comfort with her family by her bedside. Jan was born July 30, 1934 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the only child of Henry Groves Leach and Isabel Walker Leach. Jan grew up in various towns in Massachusetts, including Salem, Manchester and Fitchburg. She attended Oak Grove School, in Vassalboro, Maine, and graduated from Abbott Academy, in Andover, Massachusetts, in the Class of 1952. After studying at Fisher Junior College in Boston, Jan came to live with her mother in Thetford, and worked at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and for the Aloha Camps. In 1958, Jan married Richard L. Duncan. Through Dick’s naval service, journalism school at Columbia, and his career with Time, Inc., they and their two daughters, Anne and Hope, lived across North America, including Newport, Rhode Island; New York, New York; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Bethesda, Maryland; Ottawa, Ontario; and Pacific Palisades, California.
In 1975, Jan returned to the Upper Valley after her divorce, buying her home in Hanover Center. She worked as a legal assistant in Norwich and for the Aloha Foundation in Fairlee. In 1984, Jan married John Stebbins in a ceremony at the Hanover Center Church officiated by John’s father, Jack Stebbins. Jan loved to travel with her husband, particularly on their trips in Europe. Jan came to enjoy all things French. Jan was known as an outstanding cook and had a passion for collecting cookbooks with which she surrounded herself. She also enjoyed gardening, crossword puzzles, following professional tennis, reading, and, of course, her children and grandchildren. One of her happiest events in recent years was when her daughter Hope came to live in Orford and both of her daughters were now close to her.
Jan is survived by her husband, John Storrs Stebbins, of Hanover Center; her daughter, Anne S. Duncan Cooley, and husband, Edmond S. Cooley, of Orford; her daughter, Hope W. Duncan, and husband, James A. Beaulieu, of Orford; her grandson, Zachary D. Linzer, of Breckenridge, Colorado; and granddaughter, Isabel A. Linzer, of New York, New York.
Special thanks is given by the family to the caregivers at CarePro and to the nurses of Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire.
Donations in Jan’s memory may be made to Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, 88 Prospect Street, White River Junction, VT 05001.
View/Sign Guestbook
