Obituary of Janet M. Rose

Janet Rose of Cambridge, MA., died on January 20, 2025. She was 92. She was born in Boston in 1932 to Anthony Fontes and Elizabeth Fontes. She was the middle child of three daughters and was predeceased by her older sister, June Pedalino, and survived by her younger sister, Joanne Porteous. She was a loving and dedicated mother to Eugene (Rick) Rose, Ronald Rose (Deceased), Randy Rose (and his wife Una), Robert Rose (and his wife Maria), Cheri Burns (and her husband Bobby) and Marquis Rose. She was the proud grandmother of eleven, (Lindsay, Savannah, Brandon, Arin, Breeana, Bryan, Alexander, Brittany, Randy, A'mya, Sky' Lee) and the proud Great Grandmother of two. (John III, Jackson). She is also survived by her niece Dorian and her nephew Daron. Janet is also survived by her dearest and most devoted friend, Alfred Carroll, U.S. AirForce, Vietnam Veteran.

Jan was raised in the South End of Boston and attended Girls High School in Boston. She married Sgt. Eugene Rose, U.S Army, Korean War Veteran, and they moved to Cambridge in 1953 where she lived for the remainder of her wonderful life. As a respected member of the community, she was involved in just about everything from Pop Warner Football to helping build the first "Tot Lots" for children in Newtowne Court and in the Port next to the historic Margaret Fuller House. She also was instrumental in the creation and opening of the Windsor Street Clinic and other programs designed to assist the elderly. Her passion in life though was helping people in her community, and her community covered a lot of Cambridge.

In the mid-sixties, when the State of Massachusetts wanted to construct the Innerbelt, a proposed eight lane highway that would carve up portions of Cambridge and Somerville, Jan and many, many others, through protests and hard work were able to convince the state that, "Cambridge was a city, not a highway." Jan also was actively involved in helping Cambridge become one of the first cities to institute Rent Control in 1970. This was no easy task, but Jan and her friends were successful despite the objections of some of the city leaders. Janet was a person who fought for and battled for people who were sometimes forgotten and overlooked. They knew, that in her, they had a voice of compassion and purpose that would speak for them.

Besides raising six children, Janet had other jobs in her life. Her first job, at age six or seven, was delivering heating coal, carried in her little wagon, for residents in the South End. And before getting her job at McDonald's in Central Square as the Public Relations Manager, she worked as a telephone saleswoman, and an office assistant for Donnelly Advertising and also for Model Cities in Cambridge. While she enjoyed many things, which included her favorite drink, A Golden Dream and gardening, Jan enjoyed, most of all, spending time and talking with her family, (especially her younger sister Joanne) and many friends.