Joan passed away peacefully at home, on November 25, 2025, at the age of 91. Joan was born on January 26, 1934, to Frank and Betty Hubbel in Bancroft, Ontario. When Joan was three, the family moved to Huntsville. Two siblings, Janet and Jack, joined the family, and Joan spoke of skiing at Hidden Valley, good friends, school days, athletic endeavours, and various escapades - a happy childhood. Joan was a Muskoka girl at heart. Her father was in the lumber business, and she had fond memories of being in the woods with him, identifying trees. Her parents cultivated compassion in their children by actively supporting those down on their luck. This empathy became a core value of Joan's. Be it athletes, foreign dignitaries, students, or those with no other place to go, all were welcome in our home. It was a refuge for those who needed it. After high school, Joan travelled to London, Ontario, to attend Western University, an uncommon thing for a country girl to do in the 1950s. After a year, she decided nursing was a better option and enrolled at the Wellesley Hospital School of Nursing. Her classmates were a tight group who called themselves the Saints. The group remained close over the years, holding reunions and circulating an annual newsletter. The Saints have kindly donated in Joan's memory to Médecins Sans Frontières. Joan met Norris Bowden while attending nursing school and they married in December 1956. Their first son, David, arrived the following September. Twin girls named Joan and Janet were born prematurely in August 1958 and passed within a few days. Daughter Kathy arrived a year to the day later, in August 1959, followed by son Danny in December 1963. Joan set high standards for her kids and could be strict at times; however, she also knew how to look the other way. She instilled in her children a sense of empathy towards others and encouraged them to look at situations from a variety of perspectives. The United Church was important in Joan's life. Her children recall going every Sunday and freezing on Easter mornings as they watched the sunrise. She was active in the Unit 12 church group and enjoyed their rummage sales and countless other endeavours. The Unit 12 ladies became lifelong friends and a strong support system for Joan when her husband passed early. Both inside and outside the church, Joan loved music and would play piano for hours, as well as a mean accordion. Not one for the spotlight, she never sang in the choir or played outside the house, but it was an interest she long maintained. Joan was generous with her time and money. She and Norris were the founding chairs of the Centennial Nursery School, which started in the church basement. She was also very active within Community Bible Study, rising to national director. She loved this group and the people she met there, many of whom became lifelong friends. Her heritage was also important to her; she was very active in the Hubbel Historical Society and was at one point the national director for the group's Canadian arm. Again, while not one for the spotlight, she contributed meaningfully to the organizations and projects she cared about. Joan and her husband eventually bought a farm just north of the city, near Alliston. The farm was a refuge and joy - an escape from the city that aligned with her rural, small-town roots. The family all have happy memories of the farm: the children recall their parents hosting New Year's Eve sleepover parties for them and their friends. Now parents themselves, they wonder if Joan was nuts for allowing this, but she was not fazed by dozens of teenagers converging for a night of fun.

Joan is survived by her three adult children, David (Anne), Kathy (John), and Daniel (Lorissa); five grandchildren, Andrew (Winston), Jennifer (Dan), Andra (Michael), Amy (Cody), and Kimberly (Ryan); five great-grandchildren, Victoria, Edward, Wesley, Rosalie, and Duncan; and close friend Gillian Edwards, all of whom she loved greatly. Rest in peace, Joan, you deserve it.

A celebration of life will be held at 2pm on Saturday, March 28, 2026 York Funeral Centre, 160 Beecroft Road. Joan's family welcomes donations to Médecins Sans Frontières Canada (www.doctorswithoutborders.ca/).