 |
| Joan Marie Magurn @1948 |
On September 20, 2017, Joan Marie Magurn stepped through the veil, where we have no doubt she was greeted by her parents and brother, Peter, and sister, Margaret. Because she never married in this life, there was no husband here or there, or children for that matter. She never expressed her feelings about that. What we do know is that she spent most of her life serving others.
Born 2 May 1927 in Kilmacolm, Scotland, to John Magurn and Josephine Decima Canham, she had an older sister, Josephine Teresa (Terry.) Terry says that the two sisters were as different as night and day. Where Terry was loud and active and social, Joan was quiet and still and a homebody.
boarding school together -St.
Joseph’s Convent in Girvan,
Scotland, on 19 August 1934,
Terry age 9, Joan age 7. Joan
was the better student, and she
excelled in math. In the photo
below, Joan is on the bottom
row, 2nd from left. (Terry is
in the center, with trophy.)
When she completed her schooling she returned home and found a job in nearby Glasgow working in a government office that oversaw old age pensions. She remained with that employer until she retired in the early 1990’s. When Terry returned from the army she and Joan would travel together to Glasgow each day for their jobs.
Joan did not attend the dances that Terry lived for each week. She did have some boyfriends over time, but nothing turned serious. Meanwhile her parents aged and Margaret, who had a form of muscular dystrophy, grew worse. After Terry left for the USA in 1951, Joan became the main caretaker at home. She expressed to Terry several times over the years that she felt it was her duty to stay and help at home. Her father passed away in 1956. The informant listed on his death certificate was Joan. She was needed at home more than ever with their husband and father gone.
By this time, Margaret was in a wheelchair. Joan took care of her mother and sister, drove them here and there as needed. In 1975, her mother passed away. Margaret continued to need care and attention. Their brothers, Philip and Peter, found a home for Margaret where she would be cared for and have all the social activity she loved, but Joan refused. She felt that caring for Margaret was her responsibility alone. A few times over the years, Joan found short-term accommodations for Margaret while she took much-deserved vacation trips to Europe, but she wouldn’t consider making it permanent.
She even visited Terry in the states in 1976 and had a chance to meet her nieces. Margaret died in 1989. I’ve often wondered how Joan envisioned her life when she no longer had anyone to take care of but herself. She did return to the US to visit Terry and meet all the grand-nieces and nephews in 1995.
of her from childhood because of the wonderful Christmas ‘parcels’ that would
arrive each year chock full of gifts and British treats. In her later years she
would call once a year, which was lovely, but challenging because of her
Scottish accent! Joan moved from Kilmacolm to Edinburgh, to be near her
brother, Peter and his wife, Anne, but they both passed away in 2009. She
found activities she enjoyed and made friends. She also stayed involved in her
Catholic church. Her health began to decline, especially her mental state, and
she was eventually put into a facility that specialized in her issues. She
remained there until her death. Her brother, Philip, who lives in England, would
call her every Sunday evening. Some weeks he would report that she was in
good spirits and they had a nice chat, but other times she was confused about
who he was.
her in Edinburgh. This is the tribute Heidi wrote after Joan’s passing.
My Great-Aunt Joan passed away today. Because she lived in Scotland, we didn't get to spend much time together, but she was always very loving and kind. Her yearly Christmas parcels introduced us to the superiority of British chocolate and the questionable edibility of Turkish Delight. The last time I saw her was 2005. In big cities, there are often panhandlers and it's easy to stop seeing them. But as we walked to her bus stop after dinner, she stopped to talk to a couple of teenagers begging on the street that I hadn't even noticed. Even though her finances were limited, she gave them what she could and expressed a deep concern for them. She spent a lot of her life caring for family members and was often lonely. I'm glad that today she was able to reunite with loved ones who went on before her!
No comments:
Post a Comment