Obituary of Joan M. McGrath

WASHINGTON – Joan M. McGrath, 68, died on June 12, 2012 after a courageous 6 ½ year battle with ovarian cancer. Born in Rockland, Maine on April 2, 1944, Joan was the middle child of three born to Everett C. and Mary I. Burgess of South Thomaston. In 1962 she graduated from Rockland High School, and that same year, she was a Sea Princess in the Lobster Festival. In the fall of 1962, she moved to Portland, Maine to study computer programming, after which she moved to Groton, Connecticut. While in Connecticut, she met and married Richard E. Hewitt, a sailor in the United States Navy, in March 1964. From there, they moved to Hawaii where their son, Mark, and daughter, Teresa, were born. The family moved to California, and then back to Hawaii. After Richard left the service they moved to Denver, Colorado and then a few years later, they settled in Texas. After her divorce in 1980, Joan returned to Maine and worked for several years at Van Baalen's in Rockland. In 1989 she married Tom McGrath and they made their home in Waldoboro. She worked for a few years for Kindred Nursing Homes in New Hampshire and Waldoboro and finally for Pen Bay Hospital where she retired in 2006 due to ill health. Joan had a lovely soprano voice and could play the omnichord, guitar and ukulele. She was creative in many ways, making afghans for her grandchildren, enjoying many crafts, and found great pleasure in making jewelry. She had a generous and loving personality and a great sense of humor. She loved doing little things for people to make them smile. She will be greatly missed. She was predeceased by her parents and her younger brother, Keith Burgess, and her husbands, Richard Hewitt and Tom McGrath. She is survived by her sister, Kay Burgess and her husband, John Young, of Washington, Maine; her children, Mark Hewitt and his wife, Sujita, of Bishop, Texas; Teresa McGrath and her husband, Patrick, of Hope, Maine; four grandchildren, Bank and Sunny Hewitt, and Caitlin and Kieran McGrath; and several nieces and nephews. At her request, there will be no funeral. Memorial donations in Joan's memory may be made to Kno-Wal-Lin Home Care and Hospice, 170 Pleasant Street, Rockland, Maine 04841 or to Ovations for the Cure of Ovarian Cancer, 251 West Central Street, Suite 35, Natick, MA 01760.