1942-2008
After a long battle with cancer, Joanie passed peacefully away on September 17th at her home surrounded by family and close friends. Joanie was gentle and caring to all those with whom she came in contact. A friend said of her "anyone could see her heart through her eyes." She was born in Montreal and completed all of her schooling there. Growing up, her greatest joy was spending her summers at the family cottage in northern Vermont. She was an accomplished business woman with a career spanning over 30 years. Her professional skills resulted in her filling assignments providing administrative support to senior executives in a number of locations in both Canada and the United States. She was greatly respected by her peers and highly regarded for her strong work ethic and organizational skills. Perhaps her greatest achievement was realized whilst she was an Executive Assistant to the President of Expo 86. During her career she also formed many close friendships which have endured. Typical of Joanie, her illness rarely slowed her down. Indeed it led to both Joanie and her husband Mike becoming immersed in the exciting sport of Dragon Boat racing. She played major roles with the Island Breaststrokers Dragonboat team and the St’Keya Dragon Boat Team which included participation in a world championship event. In her final year she was involved with the African AIDS Angels project and became a tremendous inspiration to others to help support the care of orphaned children as a result of AIDS. She will be terribly missed by her husband and partner of 41 years, her sister Marilyn and her husband Don (in Massachusetts), her brother Doug and his wife Denyse (in Vermont) and her step-daughter Leslie (in The Netherlands.) Although Joanie was not blessed with children of her own she was entirely devoted to her step-daughter and especially to her nieces and nephews: Michael, Maureen, Jim, Lynda, Laura, Bruce, Leslie and Joann. Our family wishes to recognize and give thanks to the efforts of all the health care professionals who were incredibly supportive during the years of her illness. We were humbled by the caring professionalism of those at the BC Cancer Agency, Jubilee Hospital, General Hospital, the Victoria Hospice and the palliative care nurses. A service will be held at Our Lady of the Rosary Church on Goldstream Ave. at 1:00 pm on Tuesday, September 23. This will be followed by a reception at the Royal Colwood Golf Club. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joan’s name to: Victoria Hospice (www.victoriahospice.org) or African Aids Angels c/o 1855 Neil St, Victoria, BC V8R 3C6.
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