Lucretia Helen Way

Lucretia Way, born April 29, 1923, died peacefully on October 7, 2023 at the age of 100. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob Way, and by two sons, Dana Paul Joiner and Stephen Michael Joiner. She is survived by her son Jesse Joiner Jr. of Kent, Washington, brother Charles Harrington and sister-in-law Christina Harrington of Seattle, and daughter-in-law Nora Bacon of Oakland, California. She is also survived by two grandchildren (Marie Joiner of Oakland, Michael Joiner of New York City) and three great-grandchildren.

Lucretia grew up in Conway, Washington in a logging camp. As a young woman, she studied nursing at Seattle University, expecting to serve as an Army nurse. She graduated in 1945, just as the war came to an end, so she remained stateside, hoping to become an airline stewardess (who were then required to be registered nurses). Instead, she worked as a nurse in Mount Vernon, Washington, and then in Tacoma, where she raised her family.

In 1969, she moved to San Francisco, where she spent many years working for the Visiting Nurse Association. Assigned to the Tenderloin, she cared for some of the city’s most hard-pressed residents. She volunteered for Handi-Capables, an organization serving people with disabilities, and was active in organizations promoting peace and justice. She participated twice in the Nevada Desert Experience to protest the development of nuclear weapons. She was an avid supporter of the Catholic Worker movement.

At the age of 64, Lucretia reconnected with a high school friend, Bob Way, ultimately marrying him and moving to his home in Anacortes, Washington.

After Bob’s death, she returned to San Francisco.

For the last thirteen years, Lucretia lived at the Heritage on the Marina. A lifelong advocate of healthy living and a practitioner of yoga for more than five decades, she was fit and active well into her nineties. As long as she was physically able, she volunteered at the Heritage – organizing the Alzheimer’s Walk, distributing communion to Catholic residents, and reading poetry to patients in the skilled nursing center. Professionally and personally, Lucretia lived a life of service to others.

In lieu of flowers please make any donations to Amara Family Services: https://amarafamily.org/donate/

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.sanfranciscocolumbarium.com for the Way & Joiner families.