Joan E. (LaDuke) D'Arezzo, age 74, died with grace and dignity on Wednesday, December 26, at her home, with her family by her side, after a courageous battle with cancer. For fifty four years she was the beloved wife of Eugene L. D'Arezzo.
She was born in Long Island, NY on August 27, 1933, the daughter of the late George H. LaDuke and Marion E. (Nelson) (LaDuke) Freitas. Joan was a lifelong resident of Lowell, attended Lowell Schools and graduated from Lowell High School, class of 1951.
Prior to her retirement she was employed as a buyer with Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell for twenty years. Among her many interests, Joan enjoyed gardening, reading, cooking and her cats.
Besides her husband, she is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, Joseph and Vanessa D'Arezzo of Plaistow, NH; three daughters and two sons-in-law Deborah and Robert Muldoon of Tewksbury, Susan J. D'Arezzo of Lowell, Gina and Michael Baney of Nashua; three brothers and sisters-in-law Wilbur and Susan LaDuke, Roy and Eileen LaDuke, all of Dracut, George and Dora LaDuke of Palm Bay, FL; a step brother Robert Freitas and his wife Lorraine of Littleton; four grandchildren, Dina and Krista Muldoon of Tewksbury, and Christopher and Kelly D'Arezzo of Plaistow, NH; brothers-in-law Robert D'Arezzo and his wife Tomasa of Alamagordo, NM, George D'Arezzo and his Evelyn of Dracut; a sister-in-law Doris Scuito and her husband Fred of North Andover. Also many nieces and nephews.
At her request, funeral services were held privately at St. Mary's Cemetery, Tewksbury. Memorial contributions may be made to VNA Hospice of Greater Lowell, PO Box 1965, Lowell, MA, 01853 or to Kitty Angels PO Box 638, Tyngsboro, MA 01879.