Joan Clare REDFERN

April 28, 1952 - July 27, 2024 If you were to look through one of Joan Redfern's photo albums, you'd see her at dinner parties, in rivers swimming, in piazzas in Italy surrounded by close friends and family. Joan was an eager traveller. Rome was a favorite, and although she lived most of her adult life in Toronto, she never once missed a Christmas or a summer visit to her home in Alberta, especially to beautiful Waterton Lakes, a place she loved above all. Joan Clare Redfern was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, on April 28, 1952. Predeceased by her parents, Cecil Redfern and Gladys (nee Baalim); she is survived by two older siblings, Jon and Cathy Redfern of Toronto and Calgary. Joan attended Central Elementary School and the Lethbridge Collegiate before enrolling at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, where she majored in art. Joan had remarkable gifts. Early on in her youth she revealed an uncanny eye for colour, an innate understanding of composition and space, and an unfailing intuition for style. She was quick with her hands and a master of the screwdriver. These, along with a strong work ethic and dedication, became the foundation of her 45-year professional life in fashion and advertising. She began dressing windows on Yonge Street in Toronto for the designer, Daniel Hechter. Here, she applied her talents, making friends and building connections. Because she did so much, one could say she was an artist, a visual presentation manager and a marketer. Fairweather's took her on as a display manger. This led toward a longer contract as display manager for all of Canada for Lipton's Fashionwear. The king of fashion of the 1980s, Alfred Sung, took notice and brought her into his circle, granting her the head display manager for all of his store windows from the Martitimes to British Columbia. In all the various positions she held, Joan was admired for her honesty and quick problem solving. She was praised for her unassuming professionalism. While being display manager for the national chain, Lipton's Fashionwear, she became a two-time winner of the annual American Design Awards for her use of sculpture and paintings in window dressings. Moving into a different sphere, Joan became a marketing and promotion director/manager for Robert Young and Associates, and later for the giant Cossette, handling the accounts for Bell and Coca-Cola. As always, Joan's strengths rested on her modesty, responsiveness to others' needs and her rich creativity. In 2008, Joan became an entrepreneur, staging and selling in various guises as Redfern Promotions, Redstyle Staging and Crisplinens. Joan loved her work, and before her illness had dedicated her talents to a private import firm called Linenway, one her favorite places to spend her hours. All who knew her said she was one of the loveliest of people to work beside. In a busy urban life full of social events and private parties, what Joan valued above all were her friendships. She loved her family, her many cousins across the country, from Montreal to Victoria. Her admirers said she had a wicked quiet wit, a quick brilliant smile and a sense of the absurd. Her many friends in the West, Toronto, the Maritimes, and in Siena, Italy, constantly remarked on her kindness and her sweet manner. Joan treasured her great wardrobe. She loved painting abstracts in her down time. She believed in contributing to many charities, adored both dogs and cats, spoke her mind bluntly, dismissed pomposity and meanness, and spoiled her two goddaughters. One of her closest friends said Joan was like a star in the sky. You sometimes don't see it but you know it is always there, shining brilliantly. Sadly, Joan died of colon cancer on July 27, 2024. A gentle passing. Many thanks to the care teams at Toronto General Hospital. Joan's ashes will be scattered where she loved to swim, in a rushing mountain river, her secret haven.