Joan Ippoliti

Millinocket – Joan (Gallo) Ippoliti of Millinocket died on Saturday July 20, 2024, of natural causes at the age of 101. Her daughter and son-in-law were at her side and had been caring for her in their home for over 15 years.
Born in Millinocket on November 28, 1922, she was the daughter of Felica (Nicolazzo) Gallo and Dominic Gallo.
Joan was a graduate of Stearns High School, the University of Maine at Orono, and the Massachusetts Memorial School of Nursing. Having earned a Master's Degree in Public Health Nursing, she very much enjoyed teaching nursing students before she returned to Maine. Joan was very proud to be a registered nurse and wore her hat and pin from Mass Memorial regularly as part of her nurse uniform.
Joan served her country as a nurse in the Women's Army Corps (WACS) and was one of the first people on the ground in Hiroshima after the atomic bomb, caring for wounded at the end of World War II.
Returning to Millinocket after finishing her education, she met and married Renato (Una) Ippoliti who had survived landing on Omaha Beach during WWII. They were married for 49 years, from 1957 to Renato's passing in 2006. They lived in the Little Italy neighborhood of Millinocket, in the family home where Joan and other Gallo family members were born and raised, with her brother Anthony Gallo. Next door was her sister Annie (Gallo) Lyons and up the street her sisters Marion (Gallo) Colangelo and Angie Gallo.
Joan became a nurse at the Great Northern Paper Company mill in Millinocket, working her way up to Head Nurse and running the First Aid station for the mill. She truly enjoyed caring for the hard-working people at the paper mill and took her job very seriously, becoming well known and respected in the Millinocket medical community.
After decades of service, she retired from Great Northern and became the nurse and assistant for family members and neighbors. She cared for her brother Anthony after he suffered a stroke and helped friends and neighbors with medications and doctor appointments. Her life was dedicated to serving others, and she took great pleasure in that role.
She is survived by her daughter Mary Ellen (Ippoliti) Kennedy and husband Tom Kennedy, and by her son Michael Anthony Ippoliti and wife Lorrian (Maass) Ippoliti. She has numerous nieces, nephews, colleagues and friends who will miss her greatly.
She is predeceased by her husband Renato (Una), her sisters Annie Lyons, Angie Gallo, Terry French, Sandra (Clara) Cook and Marion Colangelo, and by her brothers Anthony Gallo and Michael Gallo.
Services will be held at the Millinocket Cemetery at 2:00 in the afternoon on Friday 2 August 2024. A reception will be held after the ceremony. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations in the name of Joan Ippoliti be made to the Military Women's Memorial in Washington DC.: 703-822-7270 or acct@womensmemorial.org or https://myaccount.womensmemorial.org/donate. To share memories and condolences please visit www.bowersfuneral.com