Joan Cunningham

AUGUSTA – Joan Cunningham, 90, passed away peacefully on August 18, 2024, at Augusta Health and Rehabilitation where she had been a resident since 2022. She was born in Gardiner on Jan. 29, 1934, the daughter of Chester and Arlene (Purdy) Rose.

Joan attended school in Gardiner and graduated from Gardiner High in 1953. She worked at Commonwealth Shoe for many years. She then worked at Stevens School for Girls in Hallowell, and at Augusta Mental Health Institute till she retired.

She loved to travel Maine with her sister Dotty, especially their visits to Shaw’s Lobster. She loved reading crime novels, watching her favorite TV shows, shopping for a bargain and knew how to laugh and make others laugh.

She was predeceased by her parents and her sister Katherine (Dotty) Adams in 2018. She also outlived all three of her husbands, Walter Deegan of Hopkinton, Mass., Bob Dolan of Gardiner, Maine, and Mike (Elmer) Cunningham of Gardiner, Maine.

She is survived by her daughter, Deborah Deegan of San Francisco and her partner Denise Macias; her niece Diane Adams of Augusta; and numerous grand nieces and nephews and their families.

Her family would like to thank both the team at Augusta Health and Rehabilitation and Constellation Hospice in Augusta for providing her loving care and support during her final years and days.