Janne Beede Angus

Janne Beede Angus passed away, surrounded by her family on July 24th 2025.

Janne was born on September 26, 1946 at Concord Hospital and raised in Penacook, graduating from Penacook High School in 1964. Janne studied political science at the University of New Hampshire, earning her Bachelor’s Degree in 1968.

She loved music, specifically 60s and 70s pop, including Janis Joplin, the Beatles, CCR, Willy Nelson, Hank Williams, Elvis, Frankie Avalon/ Annette Funicello (a la Beach Blanket Bingo), and Ann Murray. As she lost her hearing later in life, she said that one of the things she missed the most was being able to listen to music.

A self-described hippie, she was a fierce advocate for women's rights, but also carried a deep respect and reverence for veterans. She fell in love with Viet Nam veteran, Bob Angus and they eloped in 1970. Bob was her hero and the greatest and only love of her life. Their life together was built on loyalty, family and good humor. Bob once described Janne as the type of person who "could talk the paint off the wall." Between the two of them, they brought life to any party. They had been married for 37 years when he passed in 2007.

As newlyweds, they traveled in their VW van, camping around the eastern seaboard. This evolved into a love for RV life, which, post-retirement, they enjoyed so much, traveling between New England and Daytona and also touring historical battle sites. This travel led them to a special second home in Wells, Maine, which lent Janne access to all her favorite Maine seacoast spots: York Beach, Perkins Cove, Marginal Way, and the Nubble Lighthouse. Her email addresses always prefaced as “lthslvr.” Even after Bob’s passing, Janne loved to take people on tours in Wells- the kids all remember her taking them to Wells Beach and Congdon’s, riding the trolley and frequenting the Scoop Deck for cones bigger than their heads.

Janne loved food. Holiday and birthday family dinners were special for her- being together with family, sharing good food and drink was something she really enjoyed. Every Christmas she baked Kentucky Derby pie, without the nuts. She also loved dining out, especially seafood. Some of her favorite foodie spots included the Maine Diner, Fisherman's Catch, Barnacle Billy's, the Goldenrod, and Calef's for cheese. She loved lobster rolls, crab cakes, whole belly clams, and any kind of seafood chowder. More importantly, she never met a sweet she didn’t like. She was definitely a “dessert first” gal. Snow pudding, penuche fudge, checkerberry chip ice cream from the Goldenrod, maple syrup, chocolate, baked goods, or the maple frosted cream-filled donuts from Congdon’s; she was there for it. As far as vegetables went, well, a slice of watermelon counted as the daily requirement. Infamously ‘allergic’ to peanuts, she was also allergic to the flu shot if it was made of chicken eggs, yet she could polish off fried, scrambled or poached without any issues. The jury is still out on that one.

Her Penacook house at 15 Bonney Street (formerly Pleasant Street) was home to a few generations of her family. She lived there as a child and returned there as a married young adult, where she brought up her two boys, Bobby and Jeff. She loved to reminisce about Penacook and hoarded historical pictures, genealogical documents, jewelry, and family belongings, packed with dated notes and stories from everyone she loved. Every object in her home was an heirloom with a story to tell.

A lifelong learner with a passion for history, she inspired students, working with difficult populations to successfully help people achieve their high school diploma through her work at Second Start and for the Merrimack Valley School District, as a teacher and a school board member.

Janne was driven by her curiosity and love for learning and was the epitome of a social butterfly. She enjoyed many friendships, keeping in touch with friends from every stage of life: early childhood, high school and college friends, pen pals from around the world, and finally those she met on social media. She loved to peek inside the worlds outside of her own experience and wanted to know everything, peppering friends and family (and even strangers!) with questions about their thoughts and their lives. If she went to a senior project symposium at the school or a museum with a tour guide or even a doctor's appointment, she asked them all personal questions and regaled them with stories of her own life. Her best friend, with whom she spoke to weekly, right up until the last year of her life, was Alison Pirie, one of her oldest and dearest friends.

She was fashionable in traditional New England style. Her entire bedroom was filled with beautiful wool sweaters from LL Bean, Woolrich, Kittery Trading Post, and Express. Shopping at “Beans” was a favorite activity, especially if it was followed by a lunch date.

Her life was spent loving books as much as life itself; Janne devoured literature. She read a book a day in retirement, particularly enjoying any and all books about WW2. Her house was filled with books, marked at various stages of completion, trailing through the rooms. A perpetual list maker, she also left a trail of lists behind her: grocery lists, bills to pay, birthdays, correspondences, and books she read.

During football season, hockey’s Frozen Four and March Madness, she was either parked in front of the TV or in the stands. She loved watching sports, particularly anything UNH, most especially the rivalry between the Wildcats and the Maine Black Bears. Bob would wear a Black Bears cap just to get under her skin.

Janne was fiercely loyal to her family-- to a fault. If either of her kids, their spouses or her grandchildren were to do something stupid, or if they didn't make the team, or if they got into trouble- it was definitely someone else's fault! She was her family’s greatest fan and fiercest advocate and didn’t judge. She demonstrated her love freely, never missing an opportunity to say ‘I love you’ or to give a hug. In the last week of her life, when she was asked what she valued most, she answered, without hesitation, “my family.”

Janne’s life was filled with friends, family, good food, hobbies and RV adventures. It never seemed as though she had any regrets other than wishing she had more time with Bob. In the end, although she was afraid of the dying process, she was not afraid of death. All she asked was that she get to be home for it, which she was.

Janne is survived by her two sons, Robert Angus and his wife, Angela and Jeffrey Angus and his wife, Jennifer. In addition, she leaves behind a granddaughter, Alyssa, grandsons, Brendon, Logan, Aidan and Ethan, great-grandson, Isaiah, and great granddaughter, Sabrina. She will be missed at every family gathering and whenever a wild card is needed.