Joan Bannon McCormick

Beloved Mother, Nana
December 5, 1935 to September 22, 2025
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dearly loved mother and Nana, Joan Bannon McCormick, who passed away peacefully, surrounded by the love of her family, on September 22, 2025, at the age of 89.
Joan, and her older sister, Marie (predeceased), were raised in Brooklyn, New York by their parents. Joan attended Holy Family School, where she sang in the choir, and Bay Ridge High School. She enjoyed school and had a lot of friends. The family attended mass at their parish, St. Stanislaus the Martyr.
Joan married Terence Michael (predeceased) and they raised their four children and her husband's nephew Michael McGrath (predeceased) in Brentwood, Long Island, New York. She taught CCD classes for St. Luke's parish.
In their early years Joan devoted herself to raising her children. She then worked at Macy's for nearly fifteen years. In October 1996, Joan relocated to Virginia where she worked at DEA headquarters near the Pentagon. Upon her retirement, she volunteered at the National Archives as well as at the National Gallery of Art. Since 2020, she has resided in Burlington, Vermont, near her daughter Laura and her family.
Joan loved to watch movies, she had an encyclopedic knowledge of movies from across her life span. She loved all sorts of music from Big Band to opera to soundtracks. She loved art museums, especially the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, which her great grandfather helped to build. During the summer when the children were small Joan would take them by bus to spend the day at Benjamin Beach. She would bring them into the city by train in order to see the department stores decorated for Christmas each winter. Very proud of her Irish roots, she took us to the Met when the Book of Kells was on exhibit. She was keenly aware that her great grandparents were born in Ireland and when the country they loved was beset by successive crop failures, extreme poverty and disease, this country allowed them a fresh start. She shared her Catholic faith with her children. Being a Brooklynite was a core part of her identity.
Joan will be remembered for her love and guidance. She will be deeply missed by her children: Judeth (Hank Kaylor), Terence (Kathy McCormick), Laura (Eric Viscito), and Maureen McCormick, her grandchildren: Conor Kaylor, Breanna (Matthew Williams), Liam Kaylor, Ryan McCormick, Darcy McCormick, Kelly McCormick, Grace Viscito, and Luca Viscito, as well as her great grandchildren Meghan and Miranda Williams and by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
A wake will be held on Friday October 10, 2025, from 2-4pm and 6-8pm at Joseph G. Duffy Funeral Home, 255 Ninth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY. A funeral Mass will be held at Holy Family/St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 249 Ninth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, followed by interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, 11:30 am. The family will gather for a meal afterwards, details to follow.