
Joan W. Deering
SACO – Joan W. Deering, 73, of Saco and formerly of Sidney, Maine, left this world on Thursday March 27, 2025 after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was lovingly surrounded by her family and was able to pass at home as was her wish.
Joan was born on Jan. 9, 1952, to Rena Leadbetter Willey and Lt. Colonel Winston E. Willey in Albuquerque, N.M. Joan settled in Skowhegan, Maine with her family at the age of 9. Joan attended Skowhegan schools and graduated from Skowhegan High School, class of 1970.
Joan was predeceased by her parents Winston E. and Rena L. Willey; and her brother-in-law, David Rollins. She is survived by her beloved husband of 55 years, Cabot; her son Jeremy, his wife Kaleigh and their children Jackson, Lucas and Mason of Scarborough; her son Nate, his wife Rebecca and their children Bryce and Carter of Windham, N.H. Joan is also survived by her sister Margaret Rollins of Troy, N.H., sisters-in-law Helen Cianchette of Palmyra and Pam Guerin of Skowhegan; nieces Tamara Cianchette, Lynn Cianchette, Andrea Cianchette Maker, Tracy Deering, Brittany Guerin, and Lisa Rollins; nephews Charlie Cianchette and J Rollins; many wonderful cousins, great friends, and her beloved dog Shadow.
Joan’s family is very thankful for her fantastic health care team at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston lead by Dr. Oladapo Yeku; and her Primary Care Physician Dr. Bethany Lake at MaineHealth in Saco. The care, compassion, and love you showed Mom over the past 2.5 years was truly exceptional and we are forever thankful for all you did for her and the extra time your care allowed us to have with Mom.
Arrangements are being handled by Dennett, Craig & Pate Funeral Home of Saco, Maine. Joan’s Celebration of Life will be held at Dunegrass Country Club, 65 Wild Dunes Way, Old Orchard Beach, Maine on Saturday, May 10, 2025 from 11 to 3 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, Mom asked that people please make donations to:
St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to help support children facing cancer at such young ages, who haven’t gotten to experience the 73 years of life that she had.
Mom also encouraged the support of no-kill animal shelters and the funding of spay / neuter programs
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