Janet Tierney

To be Janet’s child was to be raised by and in grace. To know Janet was to witness the reflection of God’s gentleness. Her quiet tenacity compelled others to live as she did in joyful sacrifice for others. First and last, Janet’s life was her faith and her Mike, always intertwined.

Janet Marie Ostafin Tierney was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, July 22, 1943, to loving parents, Mary and Raymond Ostafin. She attended Mount Saint Joseph’s High School in West Hartford where she met her husband, Michael Tierney.  She graduated from Regis College in Westin, Massachusetts with honors and married Michael the following August.

She began her service to the church while in college, preparing children for First Communion which she then continued to do in four different parishes. She also taught Sunday School to middle schoolers while living in Connecticut. Over the years, she was elected and served on three Parish Councils. She was a Eucharistic Minister for 35 years at St. Leo’s Church in Winston-Salem, NC, and for the last 40 years Janet was a daily communicant.

Janet spent much of her time serving others. She was a founding member of Birthright in Stockbridge, CT and a longtime volunteer at the Catholic assisted living home in Avon, CT where she often brought her children to spread joy. Locally, she was a volunteer at The Samaritan Soup Kitchen for 15 years and a longtime member of The Windsor Garden Club and The Junior League.

Janet was an avid runner finishing the Mistletoe Half Marathon and 12 Fourth of July Peachtree 10k’s, in Atlanta, the latter of which she ran with her entire family. After surviving breast cancer, she went on to run and win many awards in The Winston-Salem Race for the Cure. She never tired of attending the countless highschool athletic events of her five children with her husband, Michael. Indeed a full and joyful life.

Through it all, though, one thing kept a dance in her step: her love for her husband, Mike. Indeed, their love was a pure distillation of their shared joy at Divinity’s unknowable and sublime choreography.

Janet leaves behind her husband, Michael, of 56 years; her five children, Amy Seldin (Rob)  of Arlington, VA, Melissa Tierney of Winston-Salem, NC, Julie del Balzo (Chris) of Johns Creek, GA, Emily Brennan (Mike) of Meqoun, WI, and Michael Christian Tierney (Michelle) of Vienna, VA. She also leaves behind 15 grandchildren, Luke del Balzo, India Seldin, Kate del Balzo, Camille Seldin, Maura Brennan, Matthew del Balzo, Frances Seldin, Mary Margaret Brennan, Brian Brennan, Fiamma del Balzo, Kevin Brennan, Aniella Tierney, Lily Tierney, Evalina Tierney and William Tierney.

A funeral mass will be celebrated by Father Thomas Kessler at Saint Leo the Great Catholic Church in Winston-Salem on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at 11:00 AM. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Janets name to the Samaritan Soup Kitchen and Birthright of Winston-Salem. Online condolences may be made at www.hayworth-miller.com