Joan Virginia Turner

Joan Virginia Turner died peacefully at the Castleview Wychwood Towers Long-Term Care Home, where she had been a resident for ten years. 

The only child of Arthur Edmond Turner and Isobel Foster (McKinney) Turner, Joan grew up in Hamilton, Ontario and then earned a BSc in Home Economics from McGill University in 1960. After graduation, she worked for a time in the test kitchens at Maple Leaf Foods and then continued her education at the Ontario College of Education where she received her teaching certificate. At Bickford Park High School, Joan designed the Food component of the Family Studies programme, and taught there until her retirement in 1986.  She was an able writer and a published poet. She loved to travel and took several cruises, once around the world. She had an eager curiosity about everything and considered every experience an opportunity to learn. She was also, all her life, a serious animal lover, from the dogs of her childhood to the many cats, and the monkey, who shared her home over her lifetime.

Joan was a woman of sturdy principles who spoke her mind, with a leavening of humour. She loved to laugh and found many occasions to do so. She was feisty and fun and will be very much missed by her friends and by the wonderful, caring residents and staff at Castleview who became her family when she had none.