Joan Elizabeth Cummings

CUMMINGS, Joan Elizabeth - 80, of Halifax, passed away at her home February 6, 2012 after a brief illness. Born in Halifax, she was the daughter of Fredrick and Elizabeth Cummings. Joan obtained her BA from Dalhousie in 1951, her MSW from St. FX in 1953, and her PhD from U of Toronto in 1973. Joan served as a professor at the Maritime School of Social Work from 1965 to 1997. Prior to that she served as Director of Social Work Services at the Dalhousie Child Guidance Clinic, and before that as a social worker at the Nova Scotia Hospital. Joan provided many hours of her time doing volunteer work for numerous organizations, many of which were focused on providing assistance to disabled persons, including the Canadian and NS Associations of Social Workers, the NS Disabled Person's Commission, and the CNIB. Throughout her career Joan received many awards in recognition of her many pioneering and significant contributions in the field of social work, and for her tireless advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities. These included distinguished service awards from and life memberships in the Canadian and NS Associations of Social Work, the National Access Awareness Week Special Recognition Hourglass Award for leadership and promoting access for persons with disabilities, and in 2005 Dalhousie’s highest award - an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD). Joan is survived by her sister Margaret (Cummings) Legere and brother Donald, both of Halifax. She was predeceased by sisters Barbra of Halifax and Ruth (Cummings) Sinnema of Calgary. Friends will be received at Cruikshank's Funeral Home, Windsor St., Halifax between the hours of 3:30pm and 7:30pm on Monday February 13th, and funeral mass will be at 11am Tuesday February 14 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Oxford St., Halifax. Burial of the cremated remains will be at Gate of Heaven's cemetery, Lower Sackville, at a later date. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to CNIB or the Maritime School of Social Work Alumni Fund. Online condolences may be sent to www.cruikshankhalifaxfuneralhome.com