Joan Stevenson

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Joan (Joanie) Stevenson on November 2, 2024 at 86 years old. Joan was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She will be remembered for her kindness, compassion, her love of helping others, and her sheer will and determination. She faced every challenge life threw at her with faith and love.

Joan grew up in Brooklyn, NY where she met and married the love of her life, Don Stevenson. Together they moved to Ronkonkoma, NY, raised four children and built a life around their shared love of family and friends. After his death in 1981, Joan dedicated her life to her children, parents, siblings and friends. Joan was deeply dedicated to her faith and community at Holy Cross Parish.

Joan loved the simple things in life: walks around the neighborhood with Fran, coffee with Connie, visiting with her sister Rosie at Josephine and Chris's house, walking and dinner out with her sister Katie, phone calls with her Irish cousins, fun adventures with Honey and Bob, and her volunteer work at Holy Cross. After she became a grandmother and retired, she split her time between Ronkonkoma and Milton, MA. In Milton, she was affectionately known by all as Gagums (the Eberhardt boys' name for grandma) and she enjoyed barbecues and evenings with the Jamal and Coyne-Savage families.

She had an adventurous spirit and loved spending time with her children and grandchildren: trips to Hershey Park, white water rafting in Lake George, biking in Falmouth and the trip of a lifetime to Ireland in 2017 with her son Jimmy, his wife Barbara and their children. Joan's last great adventure was at her grandson's wedding in August 2024 in Colorado, where she danced and laughed and rode a ski lift.

On November 2nd, she joined her beloved husband, Don Stevenson, her cherished parents Mary Ann and Michael Dillon and her siblings, Roger Dillon and Kathleen "Katie" Griffin in heaven. She spoke of them often in the last few weeks of her life, remembering them with love and laughter.

Joan is survived by her sister Rosemary; her brother Jim and his wife Kathy; her brother John; her children Michael, Annemarie, James and his wife Barbara, and Margaret and her husband Robert; her grandchildren Olivia, Donald, Emily, and Samantha Stevenson and Michael, Timothy, and Peter Eberhardt and and his wife Kelly; her nephew Gerald and his wife Anna Louise; her nephew Edward and his wife Denise; her nephew John; her nephew Christopher and his wife Josephine; her niece Amanda and her husband Noah; her niece Molly, her niece Ellen and her husband Glenn; her niece Tara and her husband Jon; her niece Kerry and her husband McCord; her sister in law Bertha; her nephew Donald; her niece Margie and her husband Pete; her nephew James and his wife Sheila; her nephew Tom and his wife Ronnie; her nephew Edward and his wife Lisa and many grand nieces, nephews and friends. She was also predeceased by her brothers in law Gerald Griffin, Phil Pulitano, Raymond and Edward Stevenson, her sister-in-law Mary Stevenson, and her niece Susan Stevenson.

We want to thank the Boston Medical Center Geriatric Team for their loving care of Joan; the Hospice Team from AccentCare and the caregivers from Home Instead who helped us during these last few months. Joan's earthly struggles are over and she is resting in peace with those she loved. "May her memory be a blessing. May the road rise up to meet her. May the wind be always at her back. May the sun shine warm upon her face, The rains fall soft upon her fields, And, until we meet again, May God hold her in the palm of his hand".