Janet Deaett

Sister Janet Deaett, SNDdeN was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, the middle child of five with three brothers and one sister. As a child, she developed a love of nature and spent her days playing outside in the fields and woods. She attended Catholic elementary school, then public junior and senior high school, before graduating from the University of Connecticut with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. 

After college, Sister Janet worked for four years at a daily newspaper in Douglas, Arizona. Upon returning to New England, she settled in Milford, New Hampshire, where she worked as a social service outreach worker for St. Joseph Community Services’ senior meals program. There, she met two Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who served as pastoral ministers in her parish.  

“After being very involved in the parish, I wanted a deeper and more permanent commitment to my faith,” she says.  

She entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur on February 2, 1985, and continued her education during her early formation years. In 1988, Sister Janet earned a master’s degree in educational and pastoral ministry from Emmanuel College in Boston. Since then, her ministry has been rich and diverse, particularly in multicultural settings.  

“I especially loved working with other cultures,” she shares, referencing her work in the Portuguese community at St. Anthony Parish in Cambridge, the Cambodian community at St. Julie Asian Center in Lowell, and multiple cultures at St. Patrick School in Lowell. “They all helped to expand my understanding of who our Good God is.” 

Her past ministries include serving as Director of Religious Education at St. Anthony Parish in Cambridge, Director of the Julie Asian Center in Lowell, PK Teacher’s Assistant at St. Patrick School in Lowell, Spiritual Director at San Damiano House of Prayer in Lowell, and Director of Resident Care Services at Julie House in Windsor, Connecticut. 

Sister Janet is especially grateful for her vocation and all the Sisters who have influenced her journey: “I consider my vocation to be a second birth, a way to grow in my faith and relationship with God and to serve others throughout my life.” 

As a spiritual director, she finds hope in witnessing the Spirit move in people of all ages. “This gives me great hope for the deepening of faith in our culture.” Her advice to those discerning a vocation is to “keep your eyes and heart open. Turn off some of the noise in your life so that you can listen to God within.” 

One of Sister Janet’s favorite quotes from St. Julie captures her spirit: “Live in continual gratitude to the good God; never let the peace of your heart be disturbed by anything in the world.” 

Updated in 2025