GLOUCESTER: Joan M. (Labossiere) Rasmussen, 75, died Monday, October 4, 2010 in the Kaplan Family Hospice House, Danvers following a brief illness. She was the wife of the late James S. Rasmussen, who died in March of 2004. She had resided with her family in Gloucester since 2004.
Born in Ludlow, Massachusetts on July 11, 1935, she was the daughter of the late Edward and Hattie (Pierre) Labossiere. She had served in the U.S. Navy, where she met her husband.
James had remained in the Navy for the next twenty years. In that time, they were stationed at numerous locations throughout the United States. She had worked as a secretary. She later returned to school and became a registered nurse at the age of fifty, eventually becoming a charge nurse in a coronary care unit in Florida.
She was an avid knitter and enjoyed crocheting. A loving and devoted wife, mother and grandmother, she will be greatly missed.
She is survived by two daughters, Wendy English of Gloucester, Brande Rasmussen and her wife, Dawn Strandburg of Old Orchard Beach, ME, a son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Susan Rasmussen of Bremerton, Washington, eight grandchildren, Joshua and his wife, Chelsea Rasmussen, Krystal St. Jaques, and her husband Zach Allia, Kyle English, Tyler and Alysia Bryant, Emily, Scott and Kaylee Godan. She also leaves a sister, Pauline Dias, three brothers, Charles, Edward and Richard Labossiere and many nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by her daughter, Lisa Ann Rasmussen.
Her funeral service will be held on Friday morning in the Pike-Grondin Funeral Home, 61 Middle Street, Gloucester at 10 a.m. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 9 – 10 a.m. Relatives and friends are cordially invited to attend. Expressions of sympathy may be made in her memory to the Hospice of the North Shore, 75 Sylvan St., Suite B-102, Danvers, MA 01923.