Joan Temple Hillegass, age 88, of St. Petersburg, FL passed peacefully on Wednesday April 1, 2020, due to complications following a stroke. She was born in Auburn NY on June 9, 1931. As a child she and her sister Ruth enjoyed ice-sailing with their father on Lake Owasco. After one year at Syracuse University, she married Carl Reese Eaby III. She had three children - Carl, Jeff, and Jackie. As a dedicated homemaker, she raised her family in a variety of places, as her first husband's career, a pilot for American Airlines, took them to Miami FL, Atlanta GA, Nashville TN, and North Hampton NH.
After divorcing in 1975, she went back to school at the University of New Hampshire and earned an Associate's Degree in Fashion Merchandising. She began working at the Aloha Shop, a Hawaiian-themed clothes store in Rye NH owned by her friend Marge Vedeler. After finishing her degree, she decided to make a new start in Florida, where she opened her own Aloha Shop on John's Pass in Madeira Beach.
She met her second husband, Charles Hillegass, at a ballroom dancing event in Gulfport FL. Joan and Charles were married in December 1980 in a Hawaiian-themed wedding. Joan and Charles shared 40 wonderful years together. They loved dancing and family trips, especially to Hawaii and the Bahamas. She loved her children, the beach, Thanksgiving dinners, and chocolate. She was a kind soul with a generous spirit. She will be greatly missed.
She is predeceased by her parents Henry Arthur Temple and Gertrude Louise Rowe, her sister Marion Ruth McGuire, and her son Carl Reese Eaby IV. She is survived by her husband Charles Lee Hillegass, children Jeffrey (Diana) Eaby and Jacqueline Eaby (Timothy) Dixon, daughter-in-law Cheryl Eaby, grandchildren Ian Geoffrey Dixon, Melissa Eaby and husband Greg, Stephen Eaby, step-grandchildren Robert (Kristen) Dixon, Alex (Jeanine) Dixon, Erica (Greg) Tinsley, and six step-great-grandsons and one step-great-granddaughter.
She will be laid to rest at Serenity Gardens in a private ceremony. Because of coronavirus restrictions, a celebration of her life will be postponed at Serenity Funeral Home, 13401 Indian Rocks Rd., Largo, FL, 33774.
Expressions of condolence at www.SerenityFuneralHomeLargo.com.
In lieu of flowers the family requests memorial donations be made to Suncoast Hospice or your local hospice care center.
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