Joan Grazina Juozenas

Joan GrazIna Juozenas passed on February 22, 2025 at the age of 79. She was predeceased by her parents, Alfonsas and Marija Juozenas. She was the loving sister of Birute Apke, and the devoted aunt of Alexander Apke (wife Anna) and Audra Apke. She is the cherished great-aunt of Amber and Arya. She has left many cousins in Lithuania.
Joan Juozenas was born at dawn on June 22, 1945 in a railway car in Erfurt, Soviet occupied Germany. Father Alfonsas, mother Marija and the newborn travelled to Ulm, where she was registered as Janina Grazyna Juozenas. Her sister, Birute, was born after World War II a year later.
The family of four arrived at Ellis Island, USA, and they settled in Brighton Park, Chicago. When she was 9 years old, she had a traumatic brain injury and while in the pediatric ward she contracted measles and mumps while still in a coma. She was not expected to live. When she awoke, the doctors assumed her life expectancy to be very short. She kept on passing their deadlines.
Despite the fact that she was always very sick all her life, she never desired to be considered an invalid. Joan graduated Maria High School. She earned her degree in mathematics with a minor in physics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She worked at the Main Post Office in downtown Chicago until she retired in 2012. She loved the work and the employees there.
She took her greatest joy from reading. She would read anything that she could get her hands on, but her favorites were science journals, science fiction and mysteries. When she discovered there was a literary society for science fiction, she attended as many local, national, and international conventions to meet her favorite authors and to discuss science and fiction with fellow fans.
Her travels took her worldwide. Often she went to Lithuania to see her aunts and many cousins. She snorkelled the Great Barrier Reef and flew in a single engine plane to see the Australian Outback. She cruised the Alaskan Inside passage with side trips flying to the state's interior. She loved the beauty of nature, visiting many National Parks out west.
At home, she enjoyed gardening outdoors and raising orchids indoors. She enjoyed great food, and sometimes cooking it herself. She loved going to plays and concerts, particularly orchestral and choral pieces. She took an active role in the lives of her nephew and niece. She was an inspiration to her nephew, Alexander, who went into computer engineering when she provided him his first home computer. Her niece, Audra, shares the same passions of books, arts, and travel.
Visitation Saturday, March 8, 2025 from 9 a.m. until time of Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. at the Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Mission, 14911 127th St., Lemont, IL. Burial at Saint Casimir Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois.