Janet Lyn Cooke

1943 - 2020

Janet Lyn Cooke

Janet Lyn Cooke, née Raeburn, age 77, passed away peacefully October 1, 2020, after a long journey with Alzheimer's disease. She was born on July 10, 1943 in Toledo, Ohio, to Stewart and Eloise Raeburn. Janet met her husband, James Cooke, at Bowling Green State University. They shared fifty-five years together, first in New York and New Jersey, followed by two years in Switzerland, and over twenty years in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 2015, they relocated to Portland, OR, to be closer to their daughters.

Janet cherished time spent with James and her daughters, visiting museums, attending performances, and exploring nature. For Jim, she remained fresh and new throughout their partnership. She embraced each of her daughters' individuality with joy and continued to offer them words of wisdom until her passing. Janet's sweet, gentle spirit and enthusiasm for the human experience drew people to her in all aspects of her life and in her art.

After starting a teaching career in the elementary classroom, Janet spent over thirty years educating youth and adult groups at the Montclair Art Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art. She and Jim connected with the Ethical Culture Society in the early years of their marriage and also joined Unitarian Universalist congregations in New Jersey and Oregon; she valued the principles of humanism throughout her life. Janet also volunteered with the Alzheimer's Association of Philadelphia.

She was an artist and experimented with various media and subject matter throughout her career. In her own words, she loved watching people, and this interest permeated her art. "Everywhere I go," she said in an artist's statement, "I notice what people are doing, how they walk or stand, what they wear, and how they interact with each other and their environment." She took risks in her art and enjoyed "the feeling of being slightly off balance but plunging ahead into a drawing hoping that intuition and past experience [would] lead [her] hand." Janet's artistic side included a love of classical music that she cultivated in her youth and that persisted until her death.

Janet is survived by her husband, James Cooke; her daughters and their husbands, Jennifer Cooke and Sean Matthews, and Joanna Cooke and Chris Bessonette; her grandchildren, Lena and Karsten; and her aunt, Jacqueline (Raeburn) Campbell; all of whom she loved and touched deeply, and who will miss her warmth, laughter, and appreciation of color.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice. A virtual memorial will be held at a future date. Please reach out to the family for further information.