Janet Ellen (Lumsden) Brewer, of Winchester, passed away on Thursday, December 17, 2020. She was 72 years old.
Janet was born to John and Anne (Van Horne) Lumsden on July 8, 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts, and was raised in Saugus with her five siblings. Janet was born with a heart defect, and was the first child patient to survive an open-heart procedure using a heart lung machine at Boston’s Children’s Medical Center at the age of nine in 1957.
Janet graduated from Saugus High School in 1966 and following graduation, she went to North Shore Community College. After working in Boston in secretarial positions, she followed her love of travel to Saugus Travel and enjoyed creating vacations for people and taking tours to Super Bowls, Olympics, Disney World and exotic locations throughout the world. Through her work she met her late husband Lawrence Brewer and began to grow their family. They moved to their long-time home in Wilmington in 1980. Janet devoted her life to caring for her large family and opened her heart and home to daycare and to foster children. She adopted two of her foster children when they stole her heart. She also trained to offer specialized care for foster kids with special needs. Once the children were grown, she found a new passion in selling Avon Cosmetics, where she became a manager and rose to Presidents Club status and was a top seller for many years. She continued to serve her customers right up until her passing.
Janet is survived by her children: John and his wife Colleen of Lowell, Glenn and his wife Katherine of Westford, Gregg and his wife Michele of Peabody, Laurie and her husband Scott Cameron of Wakefield, Alphonso of Wilmington and Breyanna of Louisiana. Janet is also survived by the children of her late husband’s prior marriage: Larry Jr. of California, Donna McGahie of Connecticut, and Roxanne of New Hampshire. Janet was the grandmother to 13 grandchildren who she loved dearly.
Janet came from a large, loving family and leaves her brother J. Scott Lumsden and his fiancée Joanna McInnis of Revere and sisters: Susan Loring of Fitchburg, Robin Delurey of Winchester, Elizabeth and John Purvinis of Candia, NH and Melanie and Joseph Bamford of Haverhill and many nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Service will be held in the spring, once COVID is controlled, or when an outdoor memorial to her life can be held.