Janet M. (Sullivan) Dennis

NORWOOD, Mass. – Janet M. (Sullivan) Dennis, 77, formerly of Waterville, Maine, was called home to God on Dec. 20, 2022, after a lengthy battle with frontotemporal degeneration. Janet was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. on Sept. 5, 1945 to Clemenza (Rowlandson) Sullivan and William Sullivan. She grew up in Waterville, where she raised her family.

Janet enjoyed helping other people immensely. Her career included acting as a case worker for Senator Edmund S. Muskie in Washington, D.C. where she worked extensively on the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, and as field representative for Senator George J. Mitchell, and Representative John Baldacci in Maine. She also volunteered at her beloved Mount Merici Academy and made many beautiful quilts for their harvest fairs over the years. Janet was an excellent cook, who managed to have a homemade dinner on the table every evening for her family, while balancing her career along with doing the bookkeeping for her husband’s business every night. In later years, she especially enjoyed making her family’s favorite dishes when they would come to visit at the lake.

Her children and grandchildren were her world. They will be forever grateful for the sacrifices that she made for them and her iron willed determination that they have the best possible life. She was particularly focused on education and drove with a HOYAS3 license plate with pride for her Georgetown University alumni children.

Janet will be greatly missed by her high school sweetheart and husband of 56 years, Richard H. Dennis, Jr.; her three children and their spouses, Vicki and Jonathan DeSimone of Beverly, Mass., Krista and Jeff Cardini of Norwood, Mass., and Elizabeth and Richard H. Dennis, III of Rye, N.Y.; her eight grandchildren; her sister Modwena Sullivan of California, and her brother William Sullivan and his wife Lorraine of Oakland, Maine. She was predeceased by her parents; and her sisters, Katherine Duguay and Therese Sullivan.

Services will be held over the summer in Waterville.

In lieu of flowers,

donations may be made in Janet’s honor to:

Mount Merici Academy

18 Mt. Merici Ave.

Waterville, ME 04901