Joan Reed Close

After graduating from High School, Joan left home and went to Buffalo, NY to attend the Buffalo General Hospital School of nursing. Upon graduation as an RN, she worked at Buffalo General Hospital. Joan later attended The University of Buffalo School of Nursing, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing and was promoted to become a Nurse Manager of a floor at the hospital.

Joan met her husband Donald at Foursquares, a young adult group sponsored by First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo where she also met a fantastic group of life-long friends. Don and Joan were married in 1961.

With the birth of their first child, Joan retired from nursing and became a stay-at-home mom. In 1970, Don was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and Joan became a nurse again in addition to being a mother and wife. In 1976, Don needed assistance breathing and he became the first patient to return home from Buffalo General Hospital on a ventilator. For 29 years, Joan was an amazing caregiver for Don along with some incredible nurses, including her best friend, Fannie.

Joan and Don were courageous and adventurous and did not allow the disease to keep them from their love of camping, boating, and traveling. The young family spent summers on a lake in Canada in an Airstream trailer and when the kids grew up and went to college, Joan and Don drove the Airstream to Florida for the winter season.

After Don passed, Joan traveled to many countries with friends and a local tour group. She was a snowbird renting in Florida each winter and then vacationed for a week each year with her kids and Fannie when she could no longer travel on her own. In 2024, Joan traveled to visit with Jim and family in Cincinnati, with Carolyn and the family at Lake George in the Adirondacks, and to West Valley for her 90th birthday and a Reed family reunion. Joan’s love of travel and her family never faded.

Wife of the late Donald L. Close; dear mother of William D. (fiancée Michele) Close, James A. (Jayne) Close and Carolyn E. Close; sister of Kay Goetz, Dale Reed, Carol Bryndle, Caren Frank, and the late David Reed; grandmother of Russell, Jordan, Taylor, Connor and Kristin. Joan was an incredible person and a friend to all.

No Prior Visitation.

There will be a memorial service at First Presbyterian Church of Buffalo on Saturday, January 18th, 2025, at 2pm. The church is located at 1 Symphony Circle, Buffalo, NY 14201. We have been blessed with wonderful family and friends and would be very pleased if you can attend to celebrate Joan’s life.

Flowers are gratefully declined. If you would like to make a donation in Joan’s name and memory, the family suggests supporting the following organizations doing important work she cared about: The ALS Association (https://www.als.org/) and to donate to the West Valley Volunteer Hose Company, PO Box 49, West Valley, NY 14171, In Memo: in memory of Joan Close. (https://www.facebook.com/wvvhc/). Online condolences to beachtuynfh.com