Joan Swann

Joan Swann died peacefully, family by her side, on August 23, 2019, at the age of 90. Joan was born Joan Hutton in Somers, Connecticut, and spent much of her young life on her familys farm, which remained dear to her for her whole life. She attended Bates College, graduating in 1950. That same year she married Robert Swann, and soon afterwards both moved to Westwood when he became a teacher in the Westwood public schools. Together they built a house on Arcadia Road, where they raised their four children. Joan herself became a teacher in 1968, when she took a position at Brimmer and May School in Brookline. Her passion for education did not diminish with her retirement from Brimmer in 1989. For more than ten years after that, she taught English as a second language to adults through the Norwood Public Library. She also became deeply involved in the Westwood Historical Society, where her major contribution as president (1993-1996) was to lead the initiative to move and restore the one room Fisher School. This building, now sitting next to the Thurston Middle School, is the current home of the Historical Society and a teaching resource for the Westwood elementary schools, thanks in part to the work Joan did as curator and coordinator of school programs after stepping down as president. Although she left Westwood in 2012, first to live in Bar Harbor, Maine and then in Seattle, Washington, until her memory left her she loved to hear about and to remember the Fisher School. Joans husband, Robert, died in 1978. She is survived by a brother, Richard Hutton, and a brother-in-law, Richard Swann, and their families; by her children Karen, Richard, Donald, and Scott; by their partners and spouses Doug Paisley, Carlyn Orians, and Phi Pham; and by her eight dearly-loved grandchildren, Megan, Roby, Anna, Sam, Max, Thistle, Inki, and Ty. Donations in Joans memory may be made to the Westwood Historical Society, to the Northern Connecticut Land Trust, or to a charity of ones choice.