SWIRBALUS Joan passed away peacefully at home in Needham, MA on August 14, 2015, at age 83, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. She gave the disease all it could handle.
She was the beloved wife of 54 years of Dr. Joseph Swirbalus, the devoted mother of daughter Cara Rhodes and her husband Steven of Needham, son Joseph Swirbalus and his wife Judith of Westwood, and son Mark Swirbalus and his wife Robin of Medfield, and the loving grandmother of Ryan, Tucker, Nicole, Michael, TJ, Matthew, Emery, Herrick, and Lottie.
Joan was a force. She was born in Rochester, PA, where she was crowned the Rochester Centennial Queen, and she graduated from Slippery Rock College. She met her husband Joe during the Korean War in Germany, where she was teaching English and dancing (she was a fabulous dancer) and he was lucky enough to be stationed. She was an entrepreneur who had her own line of clothing for young girls called Daisy Line, and she later opened a clothing store in Needham called The Depot. She had a profound impact on Needham youth sports, the schools her children attended, and everything else she touched. Joan was a beautiful, brilliant, remarkable woman who lived the fullest of lives. She will be sorely missed but never forgotten by those who knew her.
Funeral from the George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home 1305 Highland Ave. (Exit 19B off 128) NEEDHAM Tuesday at 9am. Funeral Mass in St. Joseph’s Church, 1360 Highland Ave. Needham at 10am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Visiting hours Monday from 5-8pm. Interment St. Mary’s Cemetery, Needham.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in Joan’s memory to the National Parkinson Foundation, 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800, Miami, FL 33131 or www.parkinson.org.