Janet A. Owusu

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.  Psalms 30:5

 
Janet Abena Owusu (nee Mensah) was born in the small town of Asante Mampong in Ghana on September 21st, 1946, to the late Kwabena Mensah and Abena Saka.  She was the youngest of five children (all daughters) who preceded her in death.  She departed this life on Saturday, December 4th, 2021, at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA.

Janet was a very quiet girl who went to church often with her mother.  She loved singing when she was younger.   Janet attended Primary and Secondary Schools in Asante Mampong.  Upon graduation she attended the St. Monica's College of Education and became a Certified teacher. 

She was married to Benjamin Kwabena Owusu Sr. and gave birth to 3 children, Albert Afrifa Owusu, Benjamin Kwabena Owusu and Ellen Clarissa Owusu.  There was nothing she would not do for them.  When her health began to fail in recent years Ellen became her helper and caregiver and lovingly took care of Janet with the help of her daughter Elizabeth Abena Hayford.  There was never a greater love between Janet and her grandchildren. 

In 1977 the Owusu family moved from Ghana to Banjul, The Gambia.  Whilst living in The Gambia, Janet served the Lord and the Methodist Church as a teacher in the Methodist Nursery School.  She was a dedicated teacher who loved her students and gave them the utmost care and attention.  She taught at the Banjul Methodist Nursery School from 1978 until her retirement in the year 2000.  Janet had a significant impact on the lives of thousands of students at the Banjul Methodist Nursery School.  In 2002, Janet moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, in the USA, and was later joined by her husband upon his retirement to be closer to their children.  Being a woman who likes to be on the go, Janet secured a job at the Springfield Walmart store on Boston Road where she worked until 2013, before becoming fully retired, and stayed home to help care for her granddaughter. 

Janet had a passion for music and particularly enjoyed listening to Ghanaian gospel, hi-life music and Senegambia Mbalax.  Her favorite hi-life musicians were Nana Ampadu and Daddy Lumba. Her favorite Mbalax musician was the Senegalese musician Youssou Ndoure. 

Janet was a devoted Christian who loved reading the Bible in her native tongue, Twi.  It was common to walk into her room and find her sitting in her recliner with her glasses on, reading her Twi Bible.  She was a lifelong Methodist and while living in Ghana she attended the Asante Mampong Methodist Church.  During her stay in The Gambia her home church was The Wesley Methodist Church where her husband B.K. Owusu was a lay preacher.  While resident in Springfield, MA, Janet regularly attended the Trinity Methodist Church on Sumner Avenue.  She loved singing Methodist hymns and was always looking forward to Sunday church service.

She also loved to chat with her friends and would spend hours chatting on the phone with her dear friend, Mrs. Remi Davis.  Janet was a loving person and was always willing to help any family member that needed assistance.  As such, she has helped many of her nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews financially.  Every member of her very large extended family was as much family to her as her own biological children.  Above all, she was a devoted mother and grandmother and will be deeply missed by all who knew her. 

She leaves to cherish her precious memory, her loving husband, Benjamin Kwabena Owusu Sr.;  devoted daughter, Ellen Owusu of Springfield, MA;  caring sons, Albert Afrifa Owusu  of Columbia, SC and Benjamin Owusu of Washington, DC.  She will be sorely missed by her granddaughter, Elizabeth Abena Hayford;  grandsons, Kwesi, Kofi,  Ben, Nathan and Emmanuel Owusu;  and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and friends in Ghana, Europe and the USA. 

May her gentle soul rest in eternal peace.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Trinity United Methodist Church, 361 Sumner Ave., Springfield.

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