Joan M. Rees

Joan M. (Sullivan) Rees, 89, a proud Air Force Veteran, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, May 8, 2022 surrounded by family after a long battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Joan was born on January 2, 1933 in Quincy, MA to parents James F. Sullivan and Mary A. (D’Arcy) Sullivan. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Boston College in 1954 and was a staff nurse at the Jamaica Plain VA Medical Center in Boston before entering the United States Air Force. Joan served as a First Lieutenant, AF Nurse Corps, stationed at Bolling AFB in Washington D.C. from 1956–1958.

She married Harry C. Rees Jr. on October 19, 1958 and raised two sons and four daughters after moving to Massachusetts in 1960. Joan was a devout Catholic, rarely missing Sunday mass. She enjoyed reading and clipping news articles. Joan was an avid note taker, detailing daily activities in her calendar. Because of this, we know that on September 8, 2004, she and Harry went to lunch at the Lobster Boat Restaurant in Merrimack, NH.

Joan is survived by her two sons, Harry C. Rees, III and his wife Karen Anderson, and their two children Benjamin and Emily of Cleveland, OH; Paul S. Rees, Sr., and his wife, Joan, and their four children Paul, Jr., and his wife, Jordanna, and their son, Elliot of Windham, ME, Kelsey of Merdith, NH, Brenda and her husband, Dan of Franklin, NH, and Thomas and his fiance, Elise of Hillsboro, NH; four daughters, Deborah A. (Rees) Goelzhauser and her husband Rick, of La Vernia TX and their three children Phillip and his wife, Kaitlyn of St. Hedwig, TX, Stephanie and her husband Raymond, and their daughter Margaret, also of St. Hedwig TX, and Lisa of La Vernia, TX; Patricia E. (Rees) Farrell and her husband Michael, Sr., and their four children Kathleen, Micheal, Jr., and his wife Courtney, and their two children, Hunter and Cooper, Christopher of Hudson, NH, and Sean and his husband Daniel Gomez of Florida; Jacqueline M. (Rees) Dixon and her husband, Phillip of Derry, NH; MaryAnn Rees of Manchester, NH; and many nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents, Joan was preceded in death by Harry, her loving husband of 61 years, in February 2020, and her brothers James F. Sullivan and Paul D. Sullivan.

SERVICES: Visitation will be held on Sunday, May 15th from 3:00 to 5:30 PM at Phaneuf Funeral Homes, 172 King Street, Boscawen, NH. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, May 16th at 10:30 AM, St. Andre Bessette Parish at Sacred Heart Church in Laconia, NH. Committal prayers and military honors will follow at 12:30 PM at the NH State Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen, NH.