Janet Polinsky

1930 - 2016

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.