Janet Lorraine McDonald

Janet Lorraine Hensley McDonald was born on January 20, 1945 in Peoria, IL. Her parents were Lorraine and Tom Hensley Jr. She was raised in Peoria, IL and graduated from Peoria Richwoods High School in 1963. While she was in Junior High School, her parents purchased the Stony Knob Cottages in Estes Park, C0 so she would spend most of her summers helping with running Stony Knob. After graduating from High School, she enrolled in Colorado State University in 1963 and joined Phi Beta Kappa Sorority. In fall of 1963 she met Robert at a breakfast fraternity/sorority dance. They went their separate ways but a year later, they met again and started dating and got married on December 31, 1965 at the CSU Danforth Chappel. In summer of 1966, Janet and Robert left Fort Collins after both received B.S. Degrees to follow Robert’s career. Little did we know at that time that his career would include several moves working with various state, federal agencies, and private environmental engineering companies. All together they moved eighteen times. Their journey started with moves to North Platte NE, Glenville NE, Hastings NE, Gladstone MO, Hamilton MO, Kansas City North, MO, Fort Collins, CO, Kansas City North MO, Clarendon Hills IL, Naperville Ill, and Denver, CO and finally back to Fort Collins in 1978 where they have resided ever since (including several moves within Fort Collins). Their journey took a detour in 1973/1974 when Robert was awarded a Planning Fellowship from the Corps of Engineers to return to Colorado State University. Both Janet and Robert earned MS degrees at that time and really enjoyed their return to Fort Collins. Janet was very proud of her Grandfather Carl Gustafson who was the Assistant Chief Engineer of Caterpillar, Inc. He held several patents for machinery he designed. Hence her love for Caterpillar. A good day for Janet would be to be driving in a construction zone and seeing the “yellow iron” or watching the price of the stock. She was also proud of her Grandfather Tom Hensley, Sr. He was a renown dentist in Peoria, IL. She fondly told us about the trips that she and Grandpa Hensley would take down to Saint Louis to watch the St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. She even got to meet Stan Musial and has an autographed ball of his. Janet also had a love for playing bridge and participated in several bridge groups. Another passion was watching Colorado State University Men’s and Women’s basketball teams. One of her highlights each year was attending the Ag Day at CSU which she did with her family for over forty-years. Her love of Rocky Mountain National Park was demonstrated by several trips to the park to enjoy the scenery and animals. Janet and Robert were blessed to have three sons, Robert Jr. (Tiger), Scott and Kevin. She was very proud of each of them and their professional accomplishments and enjoyed all of the family activities that we had because we were fortunate to have all of our children in Fort Collins. Later on, she was “Grandma” to Owen, Oliver and Grace and cherished the time she could spend with them. She is survived by her husband Robert; Tiger and his fiancé, Anna Brandess; Scott; Kevin and wife Jenn, and grandchildren Owen, Oliver and Grace and her brother John Hensley in Sun City, Az. Private Interment will be held at Grandview Cemetery. We will have a celebration of Janet's life 10 am, Friday, April 19, 2024 at Timberline Church, 2908 S. Timberline Rd., Fort Collins, CO. In lieu of flowers, gifts in Janet’s memory can be sent to the Colorado State University Foundation at P.O. Box 1870, Fort Collins, CO 80522. Please include her name and “Warner College Enrichment (11762)” in the memo line. You can also make a gift online by visiting https://advancing.colostate.edu/GIVE. Enter “11762” in the University Fund search field and include Janet’s name under Tribute to make the gift in her memory.

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Janet Lorraine McDonald

January 20, 1945 - March 15, 2024