Joan Christina Hiller

The daughter of Mary Pauline (Polly) and Richard Alphonsus (Alfie) Tynan, Joan was born in Dublin, Ireland on November 11, 1928. At the age of 19 she fell in love with a handsome American merchant marine, Waldo Roger Newman (Roger), and was married and left beautiful Ireland for America. Joan and Roger had three children, Waldo Roger II (baby Roger), Jacquelyn, and Mark. At age 40 Joan was widowed and moved her children to Tucson, Arizona to be near family, and she worked as an LPN at St. Joseph’s hospital. She met a wonderful, kind and funny guy named Merlyn Hiller (Murray) and they were married in March of 1972. Murray passed on in March of 2020 just as the covid pandemic was beginning. His passing left Joan broken-hearted. She will join Murray at the Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery at Marana. Joan was preceded in death by her parents, her three brothers, Cyril, Leslie and Richard Tynan, her first husband, Roger, and her first child, baby Roger. Her heart was shattered at the loss of her beloved son Mark Newman, who passed at age 55 in 2012.

She is survived by her daughter Jacquelyn Newman and son-in-law Michael German, their daughters Clare German (AJ Dobransky) and Grace Newman, and Mark’s children, Caitlin Newman and Tynan Newman, and many cousins in Ireland. Joan was a loving mother and grandmother who enjoyed crochet and knitting, travel and meeting new people – she had pen pals all over the world. She was a whiz at the daily New York Times crossword puzzle – the big, hard one - and once, when asked to name all the animals she could think of, her first response was “tapir.” Joan also loved the TV game show “Jeopardy,” and should have been a contestant – she would have won big. She and Murray gave the best St Patrick’s Day and Halloween parties – they were a great team. Mom, Nana, you were so loved and are so dearly missed. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, please consider a donation for Alzheimer’s research to the Alzheimer’s Association, www.alz.org.