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BORN

1930

DIED

2016

Janet Polinsky Obituary



Janet "Nebbie" Polinsky passed at high noon, September 27th at her home in Redmond Washington. Born to Louis and Lillian Naboicheck in Hartford, CT on the 6th of December, 1930, she was raised in Hartford in a neighborhood made up primarily of close relatives; simultaneously a great blessing and a pox. Janet attended UConn, graduating Cum Laude in 1953, followed immediately by a certificate program in Business Administration offered through the Harvard Business School and catered specifically to women. She would later grit her teeth when commenting on the ridiculousness of having a segregated program. During the following fifteen years, she met and married Hubert Buzz Polinsky, gave birth to and raised three children, moved to and focused on the domestic arts till discovering the liberating potential of a life in politics. Her career began first with Board of Education and later, Planning and Zoning for the town of Waterford. She went on to serve as a legislator in the House of Representative for eight straight terms from '77-'93, including stints as the Chairwoman of Appropriations and the first female Deputy Speaker Of The House. After retiring from politics, she went on to work as the Commissioner of the Department of Administrative Services from '93-'95 and Public Utilities Control Commission from '95-'99. Those that worked with Janet knew her to be tough, hyper thorough, intellectually curious, hilarious and, above all, compassionate. As one fellow politician elegantly stated "that woman scared the #%@! out of me" going on to express the often repeated sentiment that she was a mentor and inspiration. Close to the end, in reflecting on her work, she was wholly unimpressed with the political successes and awards but was appreciative of the dedicated folks she worked with, the close friends she made and the tangible things she accomplished that improved people's lives. Having served over 2 decades in public life, she retired to Florida, embracing the life of an enthusiastic agoraphobe, busying herself with power napping, sampling the entire Hagaan-Das collection, watching MMA and conveniently allowing her hearing aid batteries to run out before venturing into any necessary public events. Her last few years were spent in Redmond, Washington, where she moved to devote herself to training her grandchildren how to fight and swear like sailors. Janet was diagnosed with metastasized lung cancer just two months before her passing. Her decline was incredibly quick and pain was mostly kept at bay with morphine - a drug she really took to. Freed of inhibition, her lovely singing voice was fully unleashed and once her already meager observational filter was turned down to zero, she generously shared thoughts as they popped in her head. In the end she was sincerely happy and proud of her work as both a public servant and mother. Janet passed in her home, surrounded by her family. She is survived by her son Gerry, his wife Joell, son David and his husband Alexander, daughter Beth, her husband Joe, grandchildren Zachary and Lucas and Janet's best, lifelong friend, Judy Brown. Though Janet was a keen fan of funerals, she elected to have no service or ceremony. A celebration is set to be held next summer where friends and family will gather to share funny Janet stories and eat mountains of ice cream. Donations can be made in her name to The Humane Society or to any Hospice chapter.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Hartford Courant on Jan. 1, 2017.

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Dave Fairman

May 24, 2025

Rest in Peace Janet

Dave Fairman

March 18, 2025

Rest in Peace Janet. Thanks for your service!

Christine Niedermeier

April 17, 2017

I have just learned of Janet's passing last September. We served together for eight years in the CT House. I always admired Janet's ability to cut through to the essence of an issue - with humor and with the facts - and to knock heads when necessary to achieve a majority vote. We came from opposite ends of the state and did not agree on every issue. But, I enjoyed serving with her and appreciated her smarts, her integrity and her wit. Please let me know when her memorial service will be held so I can attend.

Judy Kaplan Davison

March 11, 2017

Janet, whom we called "Nebbie' when we were in Cambridge/Boston for the HRMTP (Harvard Radcliffe Management Training Program; a pilot program to see if women could handle the "B" School. which, of course we could} went on our first "work study" part of the program. All of us were assigned "blue collar" tasks to see what it was like to be on an assembly line, file papers in a big insurance company, or sell in Macy's toy department in the month of Nov.

Nebbie and I were assigned to the U.S. Rubber Co. in Providence, RI. Nebbie ended up cutting the excess rubber off the U.S. Howland bathing caps as they came off the assembly line. Since the rubber was still hot and sticky, talcum powder was used in abundance. Each night, Nebbie left the plant looking like a very elderly lady with grey hair! I, fortunately, was left-handed and that assembly line wasn't set-up for that so I got to inspect battery separators to make sure there were no pin-prick holes in them and then had to stack a certain number in each box. There was, of course, a quota which I usually only reach with the help of my neighboring workers.

We lived up by Brown University and took the bus by 6:00 a.m. across town to the factory. At night, we retraced our steps, ate dinner at a little Chinese restaurant, and fell into bed no later than 8:00 p.m. It was a fascinating experience and we became fast friends. That sense of humor of hers certainly helped us through that winter!

I was pleased to hear over the years that she had gotten into politics and government; sure wish she were here now during this present fiasco.

Theresa Azoti

February 5, 2017

Dear Family,
Members of Alpha Kappa State of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society send our deepest condolences to you on the loss of your dear Janet. We recently read her obituary in the Hartford Courant.

Delta Kappa Gamma is an international organization of key women educators. In 1981, Janet was inducted as an honorary member of Eta Chapter, CT. Since she moved away we had lost personal contact but we always included her on our roles as an esteemed member. Janet will be remembered in Ceremonies of Life, this spring at our Connecticut state convention and in 2018 at our International Convention in Austin, Texas.

Our sincere sympathy,
Theresa Azoti
State Necrology Chair
Alpha Kappa State Connecticut
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International

Richard Walker

January 19, 2017

Janet was a beautiful person in her political career. She did a lot of good for the people of Waterford, CT.

Mary Phil Guinan

January 9, 2017

The author of Janet's obituary did a wonderful job capturing her irrepressible spirit. I'm so glad to hear it was with her through the end.

I loved working with her at the General Assembly. We longtime veterans of the State Capitol think there was something special about that time - strong leaders with strong personalities who combined to lift the work of the General Assembly above the humdrum, a striving for excellence. Janet epitomizes that generation of leaders. She's unforgettable.

Cathy Mallove

January 2, 2017

Gerry, David and Beth

Reading the obituary brought back so many memories of our shared lives growing up. Your mom was one of a kind and I always found her fascinating and inspiring - and funny as hell. The world is a bit quieter and less interesting without her, especially at a time when we need more people like her to stand up and fight the good fight.

Sending my love and condolences to all of you and hoping you continue to celebrate Janet's life, spirit and legacy.

Cathy Mallove

January 2, 2017

Dear families,she was one of a kind!! Honest,truthful, sincere and a pleasure to be around.. we spent many dinners together.. sooo happy her grandchildren got to know her..... sincerely Ruth Bettencourt.

Gerri King

January 2, 2017

My name is Gerri Lipman King. Janet was my cousin Debby's cousin. As a kid, I was in awe and wished I stayed in CT so that she could represent me politically.

Whomever wrote her obituary should be commended. If it is one of her children, s/he obviously inherited Janet's sense of humor and wry intelligence.

What a legacy!

Don Noel

January 2, 2017

Janet Polinsky was a gift to the Connecticut General Assembly, which I covered as a journalist. She was smart, hard-working, by turns patient and demanding with her colleagues and leaders. If every state legislature had more Janet Polinskys, the states would all be better governed.

January 1, 2017

I was incredibly fortunate to have been selected as Mrs. Polinsky's political intern for the State of Connecticut's spring session in 1978 while attending Mohegan Community College and now the Three Rivers Community College. Mrs. Polinsky's mentoring on politics and life has always, and forever will have an impact on my life. The town of Waterford, as well as me, will always be indebted to her commitment to serving the community in a bipartisan manner which positively impacted both the State of Connecticut and the town of Waterford for decades. In today's world of politicians, we have grown too cynical and sarcastic about the lack of positive intent of their ambitions or lack of positive results for the state or the country. We need more politicians like Janet Polinsky in this day and age.

Mike Hoss
WHS class of 76'
TRCC class of 82'

2016 Janet, happy with her ice cream

Beth Polinsky-Hage

January 1, 2017

Nina Lentini

January 1, 2017

She sounds like someone I would like to know or be! I have taken the liberty of adding her delightful obituary to my collection, http://ninalentinislifewithoutend.blogspot.com/, where she is among fine company. Many condolences to her family.

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