Joan D. Ohrn

Joan Duarte Ohrn, was born 8/28/1940 in Truro, MA and died peacefully with her daughter Marjorie by her side, on 5/14/2025, after she suffered a debilitating stroke. She was the daughter of the late Antone Duarte, Jr. and Marjorie Beckley Duarte.

Joan grew up in Truro, MA and attended Provincetown High School & graduated from the Dana Hall School in Wellesley, MA & she then attended Bates College in Lewiston, ME, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She spent a few summers in her teens working in Jackman, ME, after her father purchased the Sky Lodge & she loved to tell the story of how she learned to play cribbage while there. She went on to become an elementary school teacher for a short time & later in life she found great joy in substitute teaching & teaching English as a Second Language through the town of Barnstable. She spent the most of her past 50 years living in Hyannis and Yarmouth Port. She loved to travel & took many beautiful photos. Joan loved gardening & bird watching & walking and visiting all of the beaches of Cape Cod (to make sure they were still there!). She was an avid reader & loved to write poetry. She loved to play bridge at the Yarmouth Senior Center & was a gifted cribbage player for over 70 years. Joan will be truly missed by her family & those whose lives she touched as a teacher and a friend.

Joan is survived by her brother Daniel Duarte, her son Michael McNamara, her daughter Marjorie McNamara (Kyoungho Koh), her son Christopher Ohrn, her step-daughters Jennifer Coberth (Dave) & Judy Hicks (Eric) and four step-grandchildren, Philip & Gregory & Julia & Olivia. She was predeceased by her previous husbands John Michael McNamara & Carl Theodore Ohrn, as well as her sister Patricia M. Duarte, her step-daughter Gretchen Jean Gustin & her cherished step-granddaughter Sarah Elizabeth Coberth.

Her family would like to extend great thanks & appreciation for the amazing compassion & care that Joan received from every nurse & staff member at the Bridges ALF in Hingham, MA for the past couple of years of her life. They would also like to thank her private caregivers, Laurie, Pauline & Marcia, for their dedication to keeping Joan happy while she was at the Bridges.

A private Memorial service will be held in the near future. To honor Joan’s memory, please feel free to make a contribution to the Association to Preserve Cape Cod or simply spend some time beachcombing in her memory.