Joan A Ellis

Joan Anne (LeClair) Ellis, 85, loving wife, mother, grandmother and caregiver, passed away peacefully on July 16 at Volante of Hamilton in Robbinsville, NJ.  Born in New York City on July 17, 1939, Joan grew up in Jamesburg, NJ and graduated from St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick. After earning a nursing degree at St. Peter’s School of Nursing, she started her career at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Bronx, NY, where she met and later married her husband Raymond. The couple settled in Merchantville, NJ, where they would raise their two daughters and remain for four decades. 

Joan later earned her B.S. in Nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She worked at Cooper Hospital and Lourdes Medical Center before finishing her career as the school nurse at Merchantville Elementary School, providing care for students and staff for over 20 years. 

After their retirement, Joan and Ray spent as much time as they could with their children, grandchildren, and friends. They were avid patrons of the theatre, local restaurants, and traveled both locally and abroad. Joan especially enjoyed trips up and down the East Coast including Cape May, St. Michaels, and New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where the family spent summers since the 1980s. 

Joan was preceded in death by her beloved husband Raymond, and parents Nora and Philip LeClair.  She is survived by her daughters, Joanna Ellis and Mary Hall (Kristopher); grandchildren Ethan and Audrey Hall; sister, Celeste Verzella (Robert); and many nieces and nephews. 

Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral Mass Thursday, July 24 at 10:30AM, at St. Stephen’s Church, 6306 Browning Road, Pennsauken, NJ. She will be interred alongside her husband at Woodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY. Viewings will be held Wednesday evening from 6:00-8:00PM and Thursday morning from 9:00-10:00AM at the Alloway Funeral Home, 315 E. Maple Avenue, Merchantville, NJ.