Joan Mabel Burgess

After exhibiting tremendous courage fighting recent illnesses, Joan succumbed to pneumonia at Hamilton General Hospital on May 25. Her funeral has taken place. What a life - 94 years! Joan was one of the last “Children of the Raj.” Born and raised in India with family ties back to the East India Company of the British Empire, she was lucky not to have suffered the arduous journeys and long family separations of so many. She attended a Convent Hill School in Panchgani (near Bombay) during her formative years and returned Home to England after World War II with her sister Audrey and parents, Marion and Roy, joining her brother Charles. There she met her husband, Ron, and they emigrated to Hamilton, Canada, with their good friends John and Beryl Merrick in 1958. Following in her mother’s footsteps as an Executive Secretary, Joan joined the staff of Norman Slater Pole Line Hardware (later Slater Steel) and was well respected until her retirement in 1989. After the death of her husband in 1968 Joan moved to Dundas where she was treated as a daughter by Max and Marie Wellnhofer. She made friends easily including the the McKerrells, who loved her as family and will cherish her memory. Joan always enjoyed returning to England to be with family for Christmas and often visited family in Seattle. Kind, generous and quick-witted with quirky sayings, she incredibly solved any crossword puzzle easily, including the Daily Telegraph in ink! She was preceded in death by her husband and sister and is survived by her brother, a cousin and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. Joan had a full life, well-lived and will be greatly missed, but she certainly leaves “an afterglow of smiles”. May she rest in peace and the hope of resurrection. Online condolences may be made at www.marlattfhdundas.com