JANET LEE BARRIT

Condolences & Memories (4 entries)

• My Janet "Jani" was so many things to me. I love her dearly and will miss her to pieces. She was many things to me - first of all I think my very best friend. Funny how we met - through work of course! I was being interviewed over the telephone and there was screaming in the background at one point. I asked “what is going on” and David said the girls in the office have just discovered that Janet is engaged cause they just saw her ring. I met her a few weeks later and I think the first thing I did I was go to her wedding – a perfect stranger! I was around for a few years while she was still in Winnipeg as a newlywed. I helped to renovate the Aubrey street home. I'd show up regularly on a Friday night to help out and be put to work, and then find myself going home on Sunday. The adopted singleton! There was the famous banister stripping incident, I suggested that refinishing the banister would be a great idea. I think somehow I gave the impression that it would be easy. Ooops! It was not and took a LONG time. I think it took several years for forgiveness from Janet for that one. We got to do the same again in Vancouver with many weekends at W. 28th St. when young Jeffrey first arrived on the scene! Her pride and joy. Once again, many weekends were spent stripping, painting, varnishing, riding floor strippers and polishers too. I wasn’t kidding, we did ride a floor stripper! I loved to play cards with Jani (a family strength and I loved that I had the pleasure of playing with her Dad too). I also loved to laugh and cook with her- both always went hand in hand. She has a partly demonic laugh that grabs you right away. The most fun with her in cooking was doing the three chef hat recipes. I’d show up to help on some cooking extravaganza. One time she announced "We’re Making Gnocchi" and I was astounded to find out that we had to peel bags and bags of bloomin’ potatoes. She just laughed at me and told me to get to work! In ’91 we made Antipasto. It took forever and we were both so proud of ourselves. I dragged my supply back home and proudly gave to my family as part of my Christmas presents – it was our Martha Stewart moment! Then it all came crashing down when she called to say “call everyone and tell them its off” – I guess they didn’t seal properly. So much for that idea. Janet was outstanding at many things - she was definitely outstanding at underestimating HOW good she was at stuff. One of my favourite phrases comes from her – it is “playing nice in the sandbox”…something I wasn’t always good at. In my early days of knowing her, I was particularly good at annoying her (an accident, not by design!) and out would come the world famous stomp. By God, that girl could stomp! - her way to show annoyance. She didn't suffer fools gladly – something we both had in common. When I finally met the love of my life 21 years ago, I bundled him into a plane and took him to Vancouver to meet the Barrits! Janet’s opinion mattered to me. Always has! Finally, we came full circle and I involved her in my cottage renovations when she was in Ontario. We were building a dock and needed three more bats of ridgid insulation. We got them in the van, but young Jeffrey and Squeeker didn’t fit anymore. Luckily, he was a lanky teenager and she had Jeff and the dog lie on the floor, sardine style, stretched out by the sliding door. Poor kid rode that way from Orillia to Rockhaven. Always so practical… “Don’t worry Margie, she said, we’ll make it work”. I actually associate a colour with Janet – this is the colour she painted her chairs at her Toronto home breakfast bar. I cannot see this colour without thinking of her. It is beautiful to me, it says calm, yet it is also vibrant and inspiring. I will tell you when my husband asked what my 50th birthday wish was, I said I wanted to fly Janet out from Winnipeg and have a visit. So she graciously came for a week and just us two gals jumped into my car and we drove all over southern Ontario – first we went to see Eric in Forest and had a great time with him on the southern tip of Lake Huron. We camped at Georgian Bay’s The Pinery Provincial park for a couple nights. Laughing, talking, playing cards was so much fun. It reminded me of camping when Jeffrey was a toddler, except no starfish from the sunshine coast – just huge dunes and a big sky. We found wind chimes for her back yard which I later got to see when I flew out to Winnipeg a couple years later. From camping we took in a Stratford Festival play (with some famous actor I can no longer beemember) and overnighted at my brother’s bed and breakfast. Then up we went to the Spa Scandinave in Collingwood. Massages and four different hot zones and four more cool zones. Blissful heaven. It was on the drive back that Janet surprised me. I learned that she got her JP licence and could marry people!! What a surprising and wonderful woman she was. I know she was thrilled to be able to marry her neice or nephew. Wonders. She was like that. Quietly competent. Surprise you when you weren't looking. I miss the hours long calls we'd had over the past several years where we'd start out on the topic of young Jeffrey and his shenanigans and then gradually work our way to hotel talk and the challenges she was facing. Never a dull moment in that girl’s life. She was always so committed and so humble about her skills. I regret not having seen her recently. I tried to get her to come to Chicago or Vegas or even our Kahshe Lake cottage before we sold this past summer. Most recently, I tried to get her to come to Mexico, where we could spend a week, or even a long weekend and she couldn't extricate herself from that hotel. When you have a small hotel, few people do all the work. That girl, I tell you!! We were texting a week ago as she made her first airBnB bookings and was excited by that. I will miss her terribly. That’s just a smidge of why I loved her so. She is a big hole in my heart and it will take me a long time to get over her loss in my life. I wish Jeffrey and her family gathered here today all the best and hope that you find ways in your heart to deal with her loss in your life. - Posted by: Margot Lockhart (Very Best Friend) on: Nov 20, 2021

• I lost touch with Janet after High School. I remember her laughter and happy disposition. I always thought of her throughout the years. My sincere condolences to the family and her son Jeffery. - Posted by: Eva Beaudoin (Learmonth) (school friend) on: Feb 04, 2017

• Janet was a very special person in many ways to many people. It has been 35 years since we last met but it seems like only yesterday. Her sparking smile and infectious laugh come to mind immediately. My heart felt condolences go out to the entire family. God Bless. - Posted by: Richard Cranwill (Friend) on: Jan 27, 2017

• I've known Janet for many years, as a co-worker and friend. She was a wonderful lady who had a heart of gold. I will miss her. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family. - Posted by: Chris Marsh (Friend) on: Jan 27, 2017