CHICOPEE - MAY 10, 2020 Joan Selina (Fowden) Wenninger “The Queen” Age 97 born December 22, 1922 in the town of Castleton, England passed away quietly on Mother’s Day after a short stay at the Day Brook Village Nursing Home in Holyoke, MA. She joins her deceased husband, Francis R. Wenninger, after a long battle with dementia. Joan, a World War II War bride, met the true love of her life on the dance floor of the Tower Ballroom in Black Pool, England. Francis, at the time, was an ambulance driver for the U.S. Army. After V-E Day and his return home stateside, Francis continued to write Joan and request in each and every letter that she marry him. When she agreed, Francis promptly emptied his savings account to fly his bride-to-be across the Atlantic first class. They were married on November 1, 1947 and lived sixty two plus happy years together until Francis’s passing in 2010.
While in England, Joan worked to support the war effort at the Samuel O’Neal & Sons tube factory. While in the US, she worked as a Quality Control Inspector for Sample Durick of Willimansett, MA, as well as its successor, Champion International, from which she retired in 1985.
She was cherished for her giving spirit, her endless dedication to children, and her strong-willed determination to always look at the positive. She will be remembered as a nurturer, a healer, an audience member to your important moments, a hostess of Easter egg hunts and holiday get-togethers, and the purveyor of thousands of cups of tea over laughter and tears. Her loving spirit will live on in the countless lives she has touched.
Joan was predeceased by her parents Joseph and Lillian (Barker) Fowden, her brother Leslie Fowden, her sister Ann and brother-in-law Benjamin Brierley, her sister Phyllis and brother-in-law Stanley Crossley, her sister-in-law Dorothy Wenninger, her brother-in-law Louis Wenninger, and her brother-in-law Joseph Wenninger.
She leaves behind her son, Raymond Francis Wenninger of Chicopee, MA; her granddaughter, Heather Ann Wenninger of Cromwell, CT; her grandson, David Francis Wenninger and his significant other Brittany Steckel of Clarksburg, MD; and two great granddaughters, Lillian Parker Wenninger and Sophie Francesca Wenninger.
She also leaves behind her sister-in-law Olive Fowden, as well as numerous nieces and nephews including Linda Kyle, Susan Harris, Carol McNeal, Steven Wenninger, Ann Mullen, Michael Wenninger, Diane Goldberg, Ronald Wenninger, Raymond Crossley, Silvia Dex, Eric Brierley, Ian Brierley, and their loving families.
Funeral and burial services will be announced at a later date. Her funeral arrangements are entrusted to the St. Pierre-Phaneuf Aldenville Chapels (413-532-9806). In lieu of flowers, please send a donation in her memory to Shriners Hospital, Springfield Unit, 516 Carew Street, Springfield, MA 01104, or a charity of your choosing. For more details and to leave her family condolence messages, please visit: www.stpierrephaneuf.com