Janet Glenn

Janet M. Glenn was a fixture at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, in Port Washington.

She was active in the parish but perhaps was most well known as an usher at the church.

It was an ideal role for her because she loved people, her friend Gerry Lee said.

“She would sit and people would come up and greet her,” he said, noting she was the captain of the 11 a.m. Mass ushers. “Children would come up to her and talk to her.

“She liked to socialize after Mass. She liked people — she was a social butterfly.”

Mrs. Glenn prayed the rosary regularly, he said, and exhibited her faith in myriad ways.

She was always a faith-filled woman, her daughter Denise Smith said.

“She pretty much dedicated her free time to the Catholic church and did anything she could for it,” she said. “It brought her joy to participate and be of service.”

Mrs. Glenn died Friday, Nov. 30, at Lawlis Family Hospice in Mequon. She was 82.

She was a native of St. Cloud, Minn., born on Aug. 27, 1936, to Ralph and Freda Louise Ellsworth Nelson.

Because her father worked in sales, the family moved often. Mrs. Glenn lived in a number of states before they settled in Milwaukee when she was 14.

A graduate of Messmer High School, she attended Marquette University for a year.

She married and lived in Frankfurt, Germany, where her husband was stationed with the Army. When they returned to the United States, Mrs. Glenn was a stay-at-home mother to five daughters who was active in their schools and Girl Scouts.

“She was just a great mom,” her daughter said. “She was somebody you could trust. And she was so creative with what little we had, our Halloween costumes and everything else.

When her children were older and after she and her husband divorced, Mrs. Glenn started a career in real estate and sales.

“Not everyone can do sales. She was very good at it,” her daughter said.

She worked for a property management company, and the firm relocated her to places across the United States.

In 1993, she moved to Wisconsin to be near her family. A few months later, her daughter said, she suffered an aneurysm.

“She had to learn to walk and talk all over again,” her daughter said. “That gave her determination.”

It took Mrs. Glenn three years before she was able to move into Marion Heights —now Anita’s Garden — in Port Washington. In 2009, she moved to Ellen’s Home in Port.

While traumatic events like that sometimes change people’s personalities, it didn’t do that with Mrs. Glenn, her daughter said.

“My mom was always very happy, always very accepting of everybody. She was a lot of fun to be around. She loved everyone; it didn’t matter how old you were or how young you were.”

She said a friend commented, “If your mom were to burst open, there would be love everywhere.”

“That pretty well summed her up,” Ms. Smith said. “People said she was always there for them, always prayed for them.”

Mrs. Glenn was “always on the go,” Mr. Lee added.

“She was a spirited lady. She liked to go out and be with people,” he said, noting she was a member of St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Port Washington Senior Center and the Senior Center Chorus and got him involved in some of these groups.

“She was my adopted older sister.”

Mrs. Glenn is survived by her daughters Lisa Weinrich of Egg Harbor, Denise Smith of Mesa, Ariz., Karen Bares of Belgium, Jill Lane of Houston and Kristine (Greg) Dieter of Superior, Colo.; grandchildren Elizabeth, Andrew, Emily, Eden, Cheyenne, Brittany, Ashley, Chloe, Dillion, Tommy, David and Steffany; and five great-grandchildren.

She is also survived by her sister Suzanne (Michael) George of Flagstaff, Ariz.

Mrs. Glenn was preceded in death by her sister Noreen Pesick, brother-in-law Jack Pesick, and parents Ralph and Freda Louise Nelson.

A memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 6, at St. John XXIII Parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Port Washington with Father Thomas Lijewski officiating.

Visitation will be at the church Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m.

Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery in St. Cloud, Minn.

Memorials to St. John XXIII Parish are suggested.

Funeral arrangements are being handled through Poole Funeral Home, Port Washington.