Marie "Joan" Noel

Joan is survived by her four children: daughter Catherine Lerette (Stephen) and sons Stephen, Gregory (Jocelyne), and Peter. Grandchildren Christopher (Sarah) Lerette, Allison Lerette, Emily Lerette, Claire Noel, and Spencer Noel. Joan was predeceased by her husband and best friend of 65 years Guy, her parents and her brother Gordon Lownds.

Joan grew up in Halifax and attended Sacred Heart School. She proceeded to obtain her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1957 from ST.F.X University- where she also met the love of her life, Guy. Joan and Guy were married in May 1959. They moved to Ottawa to start their married life. Joan worked at the Ottawa General Hospital in Medical Records while Guy worked at the paper mill in Gatineau. They left Ottawa in the fall of ’59 when the longing for Nova Scotia led them back to the east coast. Shortly thereafter, their family started, and Joan settled into her most important role as mother, teacher and mentor to her four children.

Joan made many lasting friendships throughout her time in school and in later years she looked forward to the annual summer sleepover near Oak Island on the south shore with her high school buddies where they shared lots of stories and had great fun.

Joan loved to be creative. Along with her close friends she took up many crafts including tole painting, needlework, and cake decorating. They got so good at their thoughtful and inventive cake designs that word spread quickly and soon it became a small business. Everyone waited anxiously at birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and other milestone events to see what this group would come up with – and they never did disappoint.

A funeral service will be held on Friday March 7th, 2025, at Saint Agnes Roman Catholic Church in Halifax at 10:00am. A reception and visitation will be held in the church hall following the service. Internment will take place at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Society of Nova Scotia.

The family would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Berkeley Gladstone and Memory Care Unit at the Berkeley on Pepperell who provided countless hours of support and care to make our mother comfortable.