BUXTON- Joyce Winifred (Dean) Nelson, RN, BSN, age 91, passed away on January 15th, 2026 at Maine Medical Center, surrounded by her loving family.
Joyce was born to Arlene Olive (Anderson) Dean and Elmer Osman Dean at the Dean family home in Buxton on April 26, 1934. She was born prematurely, in the middle of a snowstorm, and weighed in at just over 3 pounds. She attended the one room schoolhouse at Dearborn Hill and then Buxton High School until her senior year when her family moved to Florida. After graduating from St. Petersburg High School, she worked as an information telephone operator for a year prior to attending Mound Park Hospital’s three-year School of Nursing. She graduated as an RN with an Associate of Arts degree from St. Petersburg Junior College.
Joyce continued to work at Mound Park Hospital for a year before joining the Air Force as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1956. She was first stationed at Scott AFB near St. Louis, Illinois and was then sent to Clark AFB near Manila in the Philippines. She had many interesting stories from her time there, such as the local aborigine’s skill in sneaking undetected into the military base during yearly challenges. She was excited to be able to travel to Hong Kong and Tokyo while there and enjoyed learning more about nursing as she rotated through all the different medical disciplines.
Upon returning to the States, she was stationed in Moses Lake, Washington. It was there that she met her husband John, an Idaho native and Staff Judge Advocate in the Air Force. At the time, she outranked him and was required to salute back when saluted by lower ranking officers. She would laugh at how her husband always delighted in saluting her when her arms were full of groceries. They were married in Florida and spent their honeymoon driving back to Washington with her parents-in-law in the back seat! Their first son was born in Washington and as was protocol at the time, the military discharged her due to pregnancy in December of 1962. Her husband was then sent to Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. There was no on-base family housing available at the time, so she returned to Maine where her daughter was born. They were then stationed in Arizona, Mississippi, Panama, Virginia, where her 2nd son was born, and finally Texas. During this time, many summer vacations were spent driving to visit family in Idaho or Maine, stopping to show their children the sights along the way. She was very proud of having traveled to every state in the country except Alaska.
Her husband passed away while stationed in Texas and she chose to move her family back to Maine in 1982, where she bought a home just down the road from where she was born. She returned to school to update her nursing skills and received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from USM in 1986. She then enjoyed working as a visiting nurse until completely retiring at the age of 78. With all her travels, Joyce always said Maine was the best place to live. She felt blessed to finally live near her family and enjoyed going on bus trips to interesting sites in the area and out to lunch with them. She renewed her membership at the Buxton Centre Baptist Church, which she had attended as a child, and later served as Deacon. She also volunteered at the Buxton Food Cupboard. She loved the smell of the pine woods and the saltwater marshes, swimming in the clear clean lakes and the ocean, and picking mayflowers and blueberries with her sister Nancy. She was an avid reader, enjoyed political discussions, and maintained an interest in current events up until her death. She will be terribly missed by all who loved her.
She is predeceased by her husband John, her sister Nancy Gallant, and her son-in-law Jay Mackie. She is survived by son John Nelson Jr. (Buxton), daughter Angela Mackie (Hollis), son Andrew Nelson and his wife Anna (Brunswick), grandson Ethan Mackie, granddaughter Clara Nelson and “adopted” granddaughter Marissa (Rowe) Coite, her husband Richie Coite, and their daughter Emily. She is also survived by her brother Terry Dean and his wife Beverly, half-sister Penny Booker, stepbrother Paul Riley and his wife Debbie, brother-in-law Philip Nelson and his wife Leila, her aunt Shirley Walker, and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
A graveside service will be held in the Spring, and she will be buried at Flander’s Cemetery, next to the home she grew up in.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton, www.mainefuneral.com