Joan Catharine Venus

Joan was born on August 11, 1930 in St. Catharines to Claude and Helen Nelson, and spent a formative part of her childhood with her siblings Dan and Janet on the family hobby farm in the Niagara region. It was there that her lifelong loves of nature, gardening, flower-arranging and fresh Niagara fruit and vegetables were sparked. She met her future husband, Don, as a student at Queen’s University, and they started their 65 year married life on the proceeds from selling his Model A Ford. Joan and Don (deceased 2016) had four children: Jan (David), David (Pat), Tim (Jane), and Sharon; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Joan created a home of unconditional love for her family, and her greatest sources of pride were raising their children and preparing them for a happy adulthood, and later being the Grandma to her growing family. Joan’s naturally artistic eye was evident throughout the household. She was an excellent seamstress, making clothes for children and grandchildren, her own suits and square dance dresses, quilts and other treasured gifts. On special occasions and holidays, the dinner table was adorned by imaginative, beautiful centrepieces. Lovely pieces of Dundas Valley pottery could be found throughout the house. Her volunteer work included outfitting dolls with handmade clothes for charity, making flower arrangements to support the Royal Botanical Gardens, and working at the picture gallery of the Burlington Art Gallery. She and Don frequented antique and flea markets, after which they undertook joint renewal projects on their found treasures involving carpentry and decoration. They loved family time at an island cottage overlooking Georgian Bay – swimming, hiking and picking blueberries – and they continued to venture there alone to enjoy its windswept beauty together into their eighties.

We wish to thank the staff at Amica Dundas for a decade of gentle, loving care. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Alzheimer’s Society would be appreciated.

A visitation for Joan will be held Wednesday, August 28, 2024 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Marlatt Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, 195 King Street West, Dundas, ON L9H1V5, followed by a memorial service from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.