Joan Frances Filucci's Obituary
Joan Frances Filucci
October 27, 1931 -- July 5, 2023
Joan Filucci AKA “Mom” and “Granny Joan” gently slipped the bonds of earth just this past Wednesday.
She lived what today would be called an “old fashioned life,” but which for her and her contemporaries was seen as a world made more modern each and every day. She saw tremendous history unfold, huge advances in science, and lived in a world of rapidly changing social thinking.
She was raised by her practical, hard working and well-read Dad, along with oversight by six older sisters because their Mom had passed when Joan was just six years old.
She was always an advocate of those in her generation and succeeding generations she felt were not so lucky as her own family, even though her family survived only by incessant frugality and unremitting labor. As a Mom, she schooled her kids in tolerance, in reaching out to others of different races and social strata, and in standing for what was right in this world. And also in busting your butt to achieve your dreams.
Always an omnivorous reader, she made sure there was an encyclopedia in her living room, and that her kids used it. Also trips to the local libraries were made a habit, and watching the real world on the television news, historical documentaries, and intelligent comedies, cartoons and dramas. She loved the Rocky and Bullwinkle show, although admitting it in public might have been a little hard for her.
She had a liking for LP records, stuff like Bing Crosby, Perry Como and maybe even a little Frank Sinatra. She would play them in the living room and put up with her sons singing along while fracturing the lyrics with yuk-yuk replacements…like “I’ve grown accustomed to your face; that’s why I don’t run any more…”
She was “Granny Joan” to her grandchildren and to their children too. She had a knack for communicating with even the most reticent or rowdy of young ones, and her circle embraced any kid, no matter if related to her or not.
And she loved to talk about just about anything under the sun, her interest in so many things never wavering.
Her passing makes us all yearn for an afterlife, and we see her reunited with so many she has lost, including her youngest boy Tim. We are sure that when she has that reunion Tim will be contacting us, as he did after she came to Alaska to visit David, to ask “Didn’t you people ever let her talk while she was down there, ‘cause she hasn’t shut up since she got here!”
In lieu of flowers, Joan’s family requests that you donate to Habitat for Humanity (https://www.habitat.org) or the Owl Moon Raptor Center (https://owlmoon.org).
What’s your fondest memory of Joan?
What’s a lesson you learned from Joan?
Share a story where Joan's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Joan you’ll never forget.
How did Joan make you smile?