Joan Carney (7 Mar 1934 - 25 Jul 2020)

In loving memory of Joan Carney who sadly passed away on 25th July 2020
Joan was a loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother and all dearly loved her.
Born in Sunderland, she had two brothers Dick and Ron.
She attended Bede Grammar School for Girls and gained her school certificate in 1945.
She worked as a telephonist at the GPO and loved her time there making many friends.
She met Robert Carney, Bob, and they married in 1955.
They went on to have 3 children Stephen, Karen and Gerald.
Bob was a journalist and loved his work too. Later when their children were older Joan trained as a teacher at Monkwearmouth.Teacher Training College, at Langham Tower. She became a teacher at Hetton Comprehensive School.
She made friends with many of her colleagues and had a passion for teaching her students.
Bob and Joan would travel to stay with their children in France with Stephen and Nadine and with Gerald and Julie and later Nicky in Somerset in the coming years, where they enjoyed seeing and being with all of their children and grandchildren.
Bob died sadly at 61 - too soon.
Joan was a strong woman and devoted her later life to campaigning for better health and treatment.She would often write letters to the local press, which were published regularly.
Their grandchildren would visit her regularly Morgane, Loic and Thomas from France with their partners Helene and Romain. And from Somerset, Daniel, Joshua and his wife Hannah, Samuel, Nathaniel, Solomon and Joe
Then later when her great grandchildren arrived Oliver and Eliott came to visit. She enjoyed every minute.
She loved reading, poetry was one of her passions. She collected a large amount of poetry books, these inspired her to write her own poetry and short stories.
In 2015 she moved to Yorkshire to live with her daughter. They would enjoy travelling around the area taking tea and cake in many of the tea rooms and cafes.
Joan always kept in touch with her family and was able to see her newest great grandchildren online- Oscar, Arthur and Bethany. She loved them all, always smiling her lovely smile when she saw them.
Throughout the years Joan kept in touch with her brother Ron who had moved to Kent with his wife Joan and children.
She stayed with them in 2014 to celebrate her 80th birthday, they all had a happy time together.
In the last three years, her health deteriorated but her strength and determination helped her overcome her difficulties.
She lived in a care setting in these years and settled in to being cared for by good professional people who became her friends too.
She would spend her time watching tv and listening to her favourite music. Her family and friends visited her and her daughter would often take her out for the day or an afternoon, where Joan still enjoyed tea and cake.
Joan was loved by all her family and friends and is greatly missed.