Janet Alyce Phelps Heywood

Janet was born in San Jose, CA but grew up in Concord, MA, where she attended Concord-Carlisle High School and was a member of both the field hockey and lacrosse teams. She enjoyed spending summers working on Cape Cod while living in her family’s beach cottage. Janet attended Middlebury College in Vermont where she studied International Relations and Italian. She spent a formative year abroad in Florence, Italy which fueled her love of travel and her global perspective on life. It was at college in 1992 that she met her future loving husband, John Heywood.

Janet obtained her Master’s Degree in International Relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Upon graduating, she continued the tradition of service to country set by her father who served in the U.S. Air Force, when she joined the Central Intelligence Agency as an Intelligence Analyst, a role she held for the next 25 years. Her successful career was built on her deep interest in understanding world events and their impact on the U.S., her sharp analytical mind, and a healthy obsession with the importance of clarity in the written and spoken word. She provided briefings to the highest levels of government, for both the U.S. and its allies, providing insightful assessments on topics ranging from nuclear issues to weapons proliferation, as well as political and military developments in the Middle East.

Throughout her life, Janet pursued her love of travel and was able to experience many cultures. She lived for a year in Hong Kong, studied languages in Korea and Morocco, spent two wonderful years with her family in Amman, Jordan, and was just settling into a new overseas posting in Athens, Greece when she was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2019.

Janet was passionate about the outdoors and made many memories with family and friends while biking, skiing, camping, sailing, and hiking, including the annual ‘Cabin Weekend’ in the Shenandoahs with the 1412 Velo Club. She was particularly attracted to the water in all its forms, from the craggy coastline of Gloucester, MA where she and her family spent many summers, to the rivers of DC where Janet paddled outrigger canoes and was a member of the Anacostia Watershed Society.

Janet loved living on Capitol Hill, and developed close friendships with other parents on the playgrounds and the soccer fields of the DC area. She was an active volunteer in all the schools her children attended and she took full advantage of the area, taking walks around the neighborhood with family and friends, attending church, and visiting the library and local restaurants.

Janet cherished family above all else. She was a loving mother to her two children. They were her pride and joy. She enjoyed doing puzzles, playing games and was a loyal Jeopardy fan. She prioritized holiday gatherings over the years with her parents and her sister’s family in Massachusetts and Virginia, and spent happy vacations with her husband’s family in England, France and the US, where she enjoyed introducing them to her favorite vegetarian dishes.

Janet is preceded in death by her father, James Phelps and is survived by her mother, Ann Phelps; husband, John Heywood; children, Anika and Dominic; and sister, Jennifer York (Charles) of Great Falls, VA. She was a beloved daughter, sister, wife and mother and will be deeply missed.

A funeral mass and reception will be held in March. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to The Homeless Children’s Playtime Project or to The Anacostia Watershed Society.