Creative, unique, deep thinker, blunt, honest, real
Jenn Carrigan was blunt, genuine, funny, and full of personality — a woman who cared far more about being real and honest than what others thought about her. She loved to read and write and enjoyed all kinds of music, her favorite being metal. “She was going to school to be a nurse, before she got sick with sepsis,” her daughter, Taryn stated.
Jenn was a talented cosmetologist with a gift for making people feel beautiful, inside and out. She later worked as an intake coordinator at Berkshire Medical Center and at Dion Money Management. Even when her own life was difficult, she was often the first person to offer help to someone else. Jenn shared her story openly and honestly, and people appreciated her for that — she didn’t hide her struggles, and she didn’t judge others for theirs.
Jenn was the proud mother of three children: Taryn, Hannah, and Caiden. They were her greatest accomplishment, and everything she wanted for the future centered on them. In later years, she worked hard to stay sober and healthy so she could be there for her kids. As her health declined, the combined weight of sepsis, COPD, and addiction became overwhelming.
Jenn lived with substance use disorder for nine years. Her disease changed her deeply, and for her family, watching that change was heartbreaking. Her daughter remembers how painful it was to see the vibrant, loving mother she knew slowly fade, and how difficult it was to witness Jenn lose hope in herself and in life. “Once her body started shutting down, I think she just gave up. She relapsed and passed,” Taryn said.
Still, even in the hardest moments, Jenn’s heart for others never disappeared. She was someone who gave even when she had nothing, who listened, who told the truth, and who made people feel seen. Her honesty and willingness to share her story helped others feel less alone.
Jenn had three brothers — Michael, who passed before her, Jason, and Joe — and her parents, Cyndi and Ronald Goss. Cyndi and Jenn were best friends; inseparable. She was not married, but she and her high school sweetheart, Terry Levesque, the father of her children, always found their way back to one another. Terry also lost his life to addiction in 2016, leaving their children to grieve both parents far too soon.
One small but loving memory still makes her children smile: the way Jenn insisted on decorating the Christmas tree just right. Years later, Taryn, Hannah, and Caiden realized how much of that perfectionism came from their mom — and how those little traditions still carry her presence.
Jenn wanted very simple things for her future. She wanted to be able to breathe, and she wanted to be happy. And more than anything, she wanted to be there for her children.
She is remembered as creative, unique, loving, honest, passionate, and real. Her family misses her laugh, her presence, and the way she loved them. Her grandchildren miss their Nene.
Her children continue to carry both her memory and her lessons forward — including her belief that recovery is possible. Taryn shares her own personal story of her 10-year sobriety to help others in active addiction or recovery find hope for their own path forward.
Jenn Carrigan’s life mattered. She was more than her illness. She was a mother, a daughter, a sister, a helper, and a woman whose love lives on in those who knew her.
Jennifer’s daughter, Taryn Levesque, provided the information for this narrative.
June 27, 1976-September 11, 2022-Age 46
Portrait Artist: Clayton Conner
Narrative Writer: Barbara Francois
