Harold White Janeway

1936 - 2020

Harold White Janeway, of Webster, New Hampshire, rowed his Adirondack guide boat into the headwaters of the Ausable Lakes and out of our sight forever on August 20th.

Widely admired for his evenhanded temper and skillfully deployed wit, Harold served as Webster's Town Moderator for 23 years and Senator for District 7 for two terms. The Senate Chaplain advised him when he was sworn in, "Be sure when you talk you are improving on silence." Anyone who knew Harold from school, the farm, investment management, or his numerous endeavors protecting the natural world and improving self-governance understood that this rule was a part of Harold's nature. Harold came from New England, and in his careful and practical way he gave back to New England.

Born in Glen Cove, New York, on February 3, 1936, he was the fifth of Edward and Elinor Janeway's six children: Theodore, Elsie, Priscilla, Edward, Harold, and Betsy. After the war, at age nine, Harold moved with his parents to a dairy farm in South Londonderry, Vermont. He quickly took to milking cows, driving tractors, repairing equipment, haying, and sugaring. He doubled the size of the town's 4th grade and rose to the top of his class. He learned to ski at nearby Bromley Mountain. For high school he attended Milton Academy, where he struggled in Latin, fumbled at sports, but excelled at rock climbing. Led by experienced mountaineer and Milton teacher Adams ("Ad") Carter, Harold climbed the Alps and the Rockies. He continued to join Ad on summer mountaineering expeditions while at Yale, and became a lifelong member of the American Alpine Club. In 1957 while serving on the Bromley ski patrol, he met a skier with cold toes named Elizabeth ("Betsy") Chanler. This led to frequent visits to Smith, and a marriage proposal.

Harold graduated from Yale in 1958 with a commission as an officer in the Naval Reserve. The Navy accepted Ad's argument that it was in the national interest for Harold to postpone his service so he could participate in an International Geophysical Year expedition to survey a glacier in McKinley Park (now Denali). Bad weather stranded them on the glacier and Harold barely made it out in time for his wedding to Betsy. Their honeymoon on Leadbetter Island in Maine led to a lifetime of return visits together with their children and grandchildren.

After serving two years in the Navy on a radar picket ship patrolling the North Atlantic, Harold joined the investment banking firm of White, Weld and Co. in New York City. He worked as a security analyst, earned certification as a Chartered Financial Analyst in 1965, and became head of the firm's Research Department. During his 18 years at White Weld, Harold and Betsy raised five children in Westchester County, introducing them to life outdoors with plenty of hiking, skiing, and camping. They built by hand a small cabin further out in the woods to allow temporary escapes from suburban life. In 1978, Merrill Lynch acquired White Weld and Harold needed a fresh start. They saw an ad in Country Journal for a farm in New Hampshire, drove up to take a look, and fell in love with the 1789 house and its barns and farmland on the Blackwater River. Harold formed White Mountain Investment in Concord, where his sober long-term perspective protected his clients from manias and panics.

Harold retired from the investment management business in 2006 and ran for the state Senate. Unusual among successful candidates for office in New Hampshire, Harold refused to "take the pledge" that he would never vote for an income or sales tax. Nevertheless he was elected. In the Senate, he opposed all efforts to enact casino gambling. He sponsored legislation to prevent heating oil distributors from scamming people into pre-paid plans that the companies could not honor. He was the only senator to oppose the Bow power plant scrubber, and was quietly pleased when afterwards it became clear he was right to have done so. Harold supported the civil unions bill in 2007, and in his second term worked hard to persuade wavering senators to vote for full marriage equality. Harold was proud that New Hampshire became the first state to extend marriage to gays and lesbians through the democratic process instead of by court order. Over the course of his two terms in the Senate, Harold used his understanding of finance and investing to address shortcomings in the governance of the New Hampshire Retirement System, leading to the creation of an independent investment committee that he chaired for nine years.

Harold's investing acumen (and frugal nature) led to his frequently being cast in the role of an expert in financial matters, but his greatest satisfaction came from creating a lasting legacy to protect the environment. For decades he was active in the Nature Conservancy, the Forest Society, the Northern Forest Center, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the Conservation Law Foundation, and the Trust for New Hampshire Lands (the forerunner of LCHIP). Harold also worked closely with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation as a board member, investment committee chair, and dependable volunteer on numerous projects. He played a leading role launching the Red River Theater and raising funds, often by example, to support it. He and Betsy were committed supporters of PFLAG-NH, the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Harold kept much of this quiet, and he and Betsy were supporters to many others.

Into his 80s Harold and Betsy made maple syrup on their farm in Webster. They cleared old woods roads, conserved the forests, improved the fields and tended large vegetable gardens. They also loved walking and skiing on their land and swimming and canoeing in the Blackwater River. First in town to install solar panels on their barn, paid for with a successful renewable energy investment, Harold and Betsy's commitment to the environment and family ran deep. Forever planning ahead, he drove a tractor, wielded a chainsaw, ran a log splitter almost to the end, and with Betsy, arranged for the farm's permanent conservation.

Harold leaves behind 22 nieces and nephews, many close friends, neighbors, and fellow conservationists, his wife of 63 years, Betsy, his sisters-in-law (Evelyn Chanler, Shiela Swett, Randall Chanler, and Sarah Walker), and family: Roger (Douglas McGlotten), Nora (John Fergus Tuohy), William (Mary Burgess), Christopher (Catherine Leiser) and Gus (Julia Abbott)), eight Janeway grandchildren (Sophie and Charlie, Banalata and Harry, Riley and Lewis, Theo and Josephine), and two step-grandchildren (Elliot and Ethan Gaddy). He is greatly missed by us all.

Harold asked us to honor his legacy with action, advocacy and support for the many causes he worked so hard to sustain.

Harold will be buried on his and Betsy'sfarm, and a memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 29th at 11:00 a.m. at their home, outdoors and masked.