Janelle Orsborn was big sister to Anna, Abigail, Jake, Daniel and Natalie. But really, says Abigail: “Janelle was a big sister to everyone.”

Like a living Liesl – the most beloved eldest sister in the history of musicals.

You can’t write a paragraph big enough to encapsulate everything Janelle was to so many people in her accelerated 33 years: Actor. Author. Mentor. Nanny. Aunt. Missionary. Breathwork facilitator. Trauma-informed healer. Colorado’s youngest licensed massage therapist. Exercise scientist. Miss Colorado’s Teen 2009. Silent disco dance organizer. (Wait for it.)

Orsborn died Feb. 16, just nine months after a brutal diagnosis of Stage 4 metastatic colon cancer.

Until then, she lived. Big. Almost as if she somehow knew all along that we don’t always get all the time we think we have coming to us.

She was a big fan of sharing feelings, sharing gifts and sharing precious time with precious people. One of her favorite things to do was to form a circle and go around with each person sharing their feelings.

Her idea of celebrating her own birthday was to fly all of her sisters to Mexico for the party. Her idea of celebrating Abigail’s 25th was to surprise her in L.A. with hundreds of headsets. Why?

“Janelle was always dancing,” Abigail said. Specifically, she was known for leading what she called “silent discos.” Imagine turning a corner and walking through a group of quiet dancers totally lost in a group demonstration of pure, physical joy.

“We had hundreds of people,” Abigail said. “We all went to the beach, and Janelle led a huge silent disco for all of us. That’s just who she was. She was always bringing joy and dancing basically everywhere she went.”

Janelle’s love language, added Anna, was gift-giving. Her greatest talent “was making every single person feel special,” she said. “Even this past December, when she was coming to the reality that this might be her last Christmas. It was just a really tough, emotional time, and then Janelle is like – ’And, oh, by the way, I have a gift package for you.’

“In her weakest moment, she still managed to go to the post office and send a personalized gift to me and my son. She was just the embodiment of selfless intentionality. That’s just who she was.”

At home in the arts

Janelle Katherine Orsborn’s ambitiously adventurous life began March 2, 1992, in the creatively infused Thornton home of Mark and Judy Orsborn.

“When I was a kid, I remember coming to the house and just being blown away with the amount of arts stuff going on at any random given time,” said family friend Emily Moyer. “The boys played hockey, so Judy would be sewing little beanbags that they could use to warm up their hands. Over in the corner, Anna had a full soundproof studio where you could play guitar. There was a recording studio in the basement, and horses in the backyard. There was always some kind of art thing happening at the house.”

Mark (himself a musician) and Judy essentially crafted six human art projects, each given the freedom to discover their own passions. For the boys, that was hockey. For Anna, that was horses. For Natalie, gymnastics. Abigail is not only a rising recording artist based out of Nashville (and performing under the last name Osborn with one less r), “she is crushing it right now,” says Anna.

“I think with six kids, that’s six different individuals bringing some sense of exploration to the family. We were really blessed to have the freedom and ability to explore. And then, once one person got into something, we all kind of tried it because, it was like, why not?”

Anna believes the secret sauce to the Orsborn way of life was confidence and connection.

“We were homeschooled, and we needed extracurricular activities to meet people and create community,” she said, “and theater was one my mom thought we might enjoy.”

That’s how all six Orsborn kids wound up in a seminal Missoula Children’s Theatre production of “Blackbeard, the Pirate” in Northglenn.

Seminal because … six pirate Orsborns! That must have been something to see.

“Yeah, that was a unique situation, for sure,” said Anna.

The Missoula Children’s Theatre was, yes, based out of Montana, but it has for decades come to Colorado for one-week intensives that end with putting on a full show in partnership with the Northglenn Youth Theatre (NYT).

Janelle’s time with NYT spanned the ages of 11 to 18, during which she went from playing a flower to a bell (sort of). She was a sunflower in “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” and she was the bookish heroine Belle in Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” There were many camps, tours and talent shows in between. As Belle, say those who saw her: She was a practically perfect powerhouse.

“I was in that show with her, and I think that was one of her highlight roles,” said Abigail. “She was the cast leader. It was like, whatever Janelle said, people did. Everyone looked up to her. She took it as a leadership opportunity. And she has kept those relationships from that show ever since, because I think it was just a really integral part of a lot of people’s lives.”

Janelle continued performing with Northglenn’s adult company through 2013’s “Godspell. “She also appeared in three musicals at Candlelight Dinner Playhouse in Johnstown.

In her 30 years as the director of Northglenn Youth Theatre, Kimberly Jongejan figures she’s seen about 2,500 kids’ faces come through her doors. But Orsborn’s, she said, was indelible.

“I think she’s just genuinely a person who likes people, and likes connecting and engaging with them,” Jongejan said. “You just feel welcomed by her. And I always think of Janelle within the context of the larger family. You think of them as one.”

A teen title

It was around that time Orsborn became interested in the pageant world – but not for the reasons you might think. She was 17 when she was named Miss Colorado’s Teen 2009. But she didn’t do it for the sash, her sisters say.

“Honestly, I think she did pageants more for the philanthropic volunteer opportunity than to be a pageant queen,” said Anna. “She never really resonated with the pageant-girl aesthetic, but she did need a platform to be able to be herself. And it just so happened that the Miss Colorado organization aligned with her mission, which was community service and giving back to the younger generation.”

When she was younger, Orsborn took mission trips with Flatirons Community Church. As she got older, she began doing more specific work with a group called Musana, a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to building self-reliant communities in Africa. She also did mission work in Afghanistan and for the Children’s Miracle Network. She later worked as a nanny, and led a children’s choir. “She just has always been a role model to kids,” said Anna.

After her pageant reign, Orsborn graduated from Arvada Hope Academy, studied exercise science at Metropolitan State University of Denver, and began mentoring kids who were coming up in the pageant world. Her youngest sister, Natalie, went on to become Miss Colorado’s Teen 2019. Together, they made history as the only sister pair to win the title in Colorado.

Janelle co-founded Pursuing Purpose, a movement that provides online mentorship programs to help young people live their passions. Together, Janelle and Abigail recently launched what Abigail hopes will be a line of children’s books, starting with “The Adventure of Love,” published in 2024.

“The mission of what we wanted to create is new resources for parents to help their kids connect to their emotions in new ways,” said Abigail. “It’s basically about helping people to discover how to follow their heart. There’s a whole map in the book of all the different feelings you can have inside your heart. The plan was to make different books based off of all those other feelings.”

What is the light?

Nearly every description of Janelle has been steeped in light, in mercy, in inner strength.

“Janelle’s just a ray of light,” Jongejan said. “When she smiles, it’s just radiant. And you get the energy and essence from her of just light and kindness and really you wanted to be her friend.”

The Miss Colorado Organization issued a statement calling Janelle “a radiant light within our organization – and far beyond it. In the years to come, we will honor her legacy through a scholarship established in her name — ensuring her spirit of encouragement and excellence continues to shape future generations.

I asked her sisters where it all came from: Faith? Family? Both?

“I think Janelle was the flagship of who we as kids ended up being,” said Abigail. “I think she just innately was born a very specific kind of person. I think the main thing is she has this confidence in herself that not many people build by the time you’re 33.”

When Janelle got the unthinkable Stage 4 diagnosis last May, she set out to do what she had done throughout her brief life: She led by example. She died, her sisters said, the way she lived: boldly and beautifully, “exploring every avenue available in treatment until her last days while remaining unwaveringly selfless, and demonstrating courage that inspired all who witnessed her struggle,” the family said in a statement.

Abigail spent most of Janelle’s final months with her at her home in Brookhaven, Ga. They talked about how they were going to go build a tree house together.

“And one of the last things she said to me was: “I have a feeling I need to go clean out my tree house until you’re ready to come join me.”

Abigail isn’t waiting. On Thursday, she launched a beta version of a new nonprofit calledJanelle’s Tree House, which will one day soon be a grief camp where children who are experiencing loss can find comfort, connection and hope.

“It will have all the things that Janelle loved,” Abigail said, “like silent discos and going around the circle and sharing your feelings.” Friends can donate at a newly formed GoFundMe campaign.

Asked what Janelle’s final message might be to those mourning her, Anna said: “Never stop exploring” – and “no dream is too big. You might as well take the chance on that crazy idea that you haven’t checked off your bucket list.

“Definitely live big.”

Orsborn, the family said, is survived by her parents, sisters and brothers; niece, Jette; nephew, Roman; and in-laws Angelyn, Chloe and Sam Orsborn.

A celebration will be held from 1-4 p.m. Monday (March 2) at Spruce Mountain Ranch, 14771 Spruce Mountain Road in Larkspur.

John Moore is the Denver Gazette’s Senior Arts Journalist. Email him at john.moore@denvergazette.com.

Janelle Orsborn/A celebration

• When: 1-4 p.m. Monday (March 2)
• Where: Spruce Mountain Ranch, 14771 Spruce Mountain Road, Larkspur