Thomas Borden Bradford Jansen died on January 2, 2021 at St. Anne's Hospital in Fall River, MA with family close at hand.
Tom was born in Boston in 1942 to Thomas and Hope Jansen. He attended Noble and Greenough School in Dedham and Trinity College in Hartford, CT and served in the Army National Guard. He married Elizabeth Ingalls and had two children in the Boston area before moving to Westport, MA. Tom was Music Manager at Trinity Church in Boston where he made a major impact and was well loved by the church community before retiring in 2009. In 2000, he married Barbara Smith and they lived happily together in their beloved home in Westport until his death.
Tom is survived by his wife, Barbara (Smith), his children, Thomas Jansen (and wife, Lisa Snow), Laura Slingerland (and husband, Paul Slingerland), his three grandchildren, Christopher Slingerland, Thomas and Samuel Jansen, and their mother, Jennifer Jansen, as well as his faithful dog and driving companion, Lily. These were the loves of his life. He also leaves behind two sisters, Trintje Jansen of Westport, Caroline Knox of Waltham, his brother, Nicholas, of Westport and countless friends and admirers.
Community involvement was a major part of his retirement life. He was a board member of the WRWA and president and longtime participant in the much-acclaimed Sine Nomine Choir. His music portfolio was extensive. Early on, he shone as a boy chorister, studied the viola, was in a rock band, in a quartet, an octet, in numerous church choirs over the years, including the Trinity Church Choir in Boston, and was a cantor at St. Andrews Church in Little Compton.
His love and expertise in choral music was closely followed by that of sailing. He honed his skills as a youth in pond boats on Cockeast Pond in Westport, moved on to beetle cats on the Westport River and finally to the helm of his beloved catboat (not surprisingly named “Toccata.”). In recent years Tom loved spending afternoons at the beach with family and friends at Elephant Rock, where he could often be seen body surfing with his grandsons. His life was woven with tradition, kindness and concern for others, social service, New England frugality and old Volvos. With a ready smile, he always would laugh at a good joke (or a bad one), and you had to be ready for a big hug.
A memorial service will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Westport River Watershed Alliance (www.westportwatershed.org) or St. Andrews By-the-Sea Episcopal Church (www.standrewslc.org).