Joan Caryl

Joan Dibert Caryl of Wellesley died on Friday 14, 2025 at Massachusetts General Hospital with her family by her side. Joan was 90 years old.
Sadly, Joan passed just two weeks after her husband of 69 years, William C. "Bill" Caryl, who died on February 1. They are now together in the sweet hereafter.
Joan is survived by her children, Michael (Debbie) of Arizona, Thomas (Laurel) of Framingham, Eileen (Andrew) of Colorado and James (Angie) of Framingham. Joan adored her grandchildren Beth Ann, Madeline (Matt), Emily, Cameron and Lola and great-grandchildren Benjamin, Quinn and Judah. Joan also leaves behind her dear brother Charles and wife Ailsa of Florida and their children and grandchildren. And of course, Buddy the dog, who was the latest in a long and well-loved line of mutts and Westies, her two favorite breeds.
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1934 to Charles Armstrong and Alice Dillinger Dibert, Joan attended Winchester-Thurston for primary and secondary school, before heading to the University of Florida and Penn State. Joan was an intelligent girl known for her quiet sense of humor and her passion for art, crafts, animals and reading. She loved her childhood time spent in Pittsburgh with her parents and her paternal grandparents enjoying the busy city life, as well as the big gardens, cooking, canning, and lively gatherings of her maternal grandparents in Allegheny County.
Joan graduated from Penn State with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and married Bill in 1956. First living in Erie, Pennsylvania, they moved to Wellesley, Massachusetts in 1961 for Bill's career. While raising her four children in Wellesley, Joan taught kindergarten art classes, neighborhood kid summer art classes and adult classes. She was a longtime member of the Wellesley Arts and Crafts Guild.
She had a wonderful imagination and inspired others to stretch their own. She enjoyed many mediums including painting, ceramics, wood and fabrics but she also happened to be an excellent "handywoman". When a glass window needed to be replaced, Joan did it, when a drill was required, Joan had it charged and ready. She could hammer, nail, patch, and fabricate. Visting one of her children, she repaired the screen door while they were at work.
She taught her children to love and respect the natural world. She owned a set of field guides and was always pulling them out to educate herself and her children on everything from birds to geology. She hiked the kids up into the mountains and along the rivers during the summers the family spent in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, picking blueberries along the way.
She sewed clothes, knitted blankets, made meals we still dream of including hearty classics. Joan also enjoyed keeping up on current trends, politics, lingo and learning about technology. Always inquisitive, Joan loved outings exploring the national parks, coastal areas, deserts and cities of the United States. She enthusiastically said yes to international trip invites from her kids to visit China, Scotland, England and France.
We will miss our incredibly sharp-minded and kind mother, always thinking of her family and her next project. We didn't think she would leave us so soon, 90 seemed too soon for a woman with as long of a to-do list as Joan. Rest in peace dear Mother, we will all miss your smile, wisdom and love.
A Funeral Service will be held in the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home 477 Washington St. Wellesley on Friday, February 21st at 12 noon. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 11am-12Noon. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Interment private.