Janice Diane Brenner of Winthrop passed away at the Florence & Chafetz Home in Chelsea on January 14, 2016. She was 78 years old. Born in Winthrop on October 14, 1937, she was the beloved daughter of the late Muriel (Freedman) and Jack Cohen.

She was the loving mother of Lawrence Brenner of Winthrop, Linda Brenner and her husband Herbert Wong of Rockville, MD, and Lisa Brenner of Falmouth, Maine. She was the dear sister of Alan Cohen and wife Judy of Sandwich, MA, William Cohen and wife Sharon of North Andover, MA and Roberta Cohen and husband Perry Nerantzis of Silver Springs, MD. She was the cherished grandmother of Sophie, Sam, Emily, Tessa and Jeffrey. She is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews.

A Winthrop native, Jan graduated Winthrop High School in 1955.  She was a medical lab technician in Boston prior to the birth of her children, and after raising her kids, she earned an associates degree at North Shore Community College and worked at a number of local businesses as a bookkeeper. 

Jan enjoyed jazz, reading, travel, crossword and other puzzles, and she was an excellent Scrabble player.

A private funeral service was held with burial in the Belle Isle section of Winthrop Cemetery.

Memorial donations may be made to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research at www.michaeljfox.org

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