Janet Earnshaw

Janet Earnshaw of Ormond Beach FL passed away on March 8, 2024 at the age of 92. Janet was born in 1931, the daughter of George and Marjorie Wellmeier. She grew up in Kennett Square PA and attended Kennett High School. In 1952, she married her high school sweetheart, C. Lewis Gilbert. They were married for over twenty years, and lived together in Landenberg and later West Chester PA. She started her professional life working at Hercules Chemical Company and worked for many years for Roy F. Weston Inc (now Weston Solutions) as an executive secretary, mentoring younger secretaries in the final years before her retirement. She was active in their chapter of Toastmasters, which she joined so she could learn to overcome her shyness. She was a lifetime member of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, dedicated to “life, learning and friendship.”

Janet and Lew divorced in 1975, and after some challenging years as a working single parent, she met a fellow divorcee, Charles Earnshaw. Janet and Chuck married in 1982 and lived in West Chester PA and Palm Coast FL.

In her second marriage, Janet found a kind of happiness that had eluded her in her first. Chuck brought a playful spontaneity to their partnership. Riders on the Wilmington & Western railway line at the Christmas season got to see Chuck and Janet as Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Together, Janet and Chuck were active Lions in West Chester and Palm Coast, and Janet used the many skills she’d acquired during her professional career to support that organization and its mission. Her support was a key to the success Chuck enjoyed as District Governor, and she served as President of the Palm Coast Lions from 2012-13. They traveled and made many long-lasting friends during their years as Lions.

In the last years of their lives, Chuck and Janet lived at Ormond in the Pines, an assisted living facility in Ormond Beach FL. Janet cared for Chuck selflessly during the last years of his life. They were happily married for 39 years and he passed away in May 2021.

Janet is remembered for her kindness and her generosity, and was regarded by both friends and family as “a bright light.” She loved and supported her husbands and her three children through good times and bad. Helping to care for her grandchildren was one of the great joys of her life. She was a charming, petite woman with a vivacious personality and a strong Christian faith.

She is survived by her three children - her son Charles Gilbert and her daughters Cindi Long and Andrea Gilbert - and by four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

In addition, she is mourned and will be missed by her late husband’s family - his sons Harold and Alan Earnshaw, his daughter Rebecca Capriotti, and their spouses, children and grandchildren.

“Sometimes people leave you

Halfway through the wood.

Do not let it grieve you

No one leaves for good.”

— Stephen Sondheim, “No One Is Alone”

A celebration of Janet’s life is planned for later in April in Kennett Square PA.