Service Information
Visitation: Friday (5/13) 4 - 8 PM
Funeral Mass: Saturday (5/14) 9:30 AM @ Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Crematory: Green-Wood Crematory (Brooklyn, NY)

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Jennifer Mitro-Specht passed away on May 11, 2022, at the age of 51.

Jen leaves behind her husband of twenty-eight years, Laurance Specht, their two sons, Liam (18) and Eamon (16), as well as her father, George Mitro, and brother, George Mitro, Jr. She is predeceased by her mother Margaret (Henry) Mitro.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Jen grew up in Kensington and went to Immaculate Heart of Mary elementary school, then Fontbonne Hall Academy high school. She received a BA from Concordia College, and throughout her life worked at various times in the banking and insurance industries.  She married Laurance (her high school sweetheart) in 1994 and they had two of the most extraordinary sons a couple could hope for.

Jen had a passion for her children, friends, family, and (perhaps above all) Bruce Springsteen. She loved music, art, theatre, tattoos, bars, true-crime TV, and photography.

She disdained being called "Jenny," anything white or pink, labeling, black-and-white television, and confining political views.

Jen was gifted in the art of sarcasm and storytelling (though "she could take a two-hour movie and make it last four hours in the retelling"). Her facial expressions were myriad and spoke volumes when words weren't sufficient.

An artist at heart, Jen was a singer and photographer. She added design and artistry to even the simple things, whether Easter baskets, party centerpieces, or scrapbooks.

Throughout her life, she felt a natural calling to fix what was broken in the world. Her activism ran the gamut of writing postcards to get people to vote, volunteering at a Brooklyn homeless shelter, sending supplies to rescue workers after 9/11, gathering donations and housing family affected by Hurricane Sandy, and driving the elderly to medical appointments. When a loved one was hurt or grieving, Jen was there offering a hand to hold.

If heaven is in any way a manifestation of our most fervent wishes, Jen is sipping cocktails in a celestial bar beside her mother and grandmother, surrounded by all those she has loved and lost. Heath Ledger just walked in, and Stephen Sondheim is at the piano warming up for her so she can sing what will be a flawless rendition of "Finishing the Hat." When the applause subsides, she'll take her seat at the bar and she will watch over all of us—those she has loved but has had to leave behind.

In lieu of flowers please donate to To Write Love on Her Arms , a charity that Jen loved for its mission to present hope and help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide.