Joan Marie Scollard

1936-2024

Joan Marie Scollard passed away peacefully after a short illness on November 19 th surrounded by family. She was 88.

Joan Marie Irwin was born on January 20, 1936 to Norah and Michael Irwin, who immigrated from County Mayo, Ireland, in the early 1930s and settled in the Bronx. Joan often shared her wonderful memories of growing up in the Bronx on Fordham Road-riding the subway to school, handball tournaments in the local schoolyard, Yankee games and visits to Coney Island. She graduated from the St. Anselm School and soon after began an exciting career on Wall Street as a secretary at a large bank.

She married the love of her life, David Patrick Scollard in 1958 and settled in the beautiful and growing suburbs of Stony Point, New York where they raised three children. After his sudden passing in 1983, she was fiercely protective of her children and instilled her Irish independence and determination in each of them to carry on. Amidst a busy household of responsibilities, she went back to school and earned her associate’s degree from Rockland Community College. She delighted in being the “elder college student in her late 40’s” and bestowing her wisdom upon her younger fellow students. Upon earning her degree, Joan joined the North Rockland School District as a secretary in the special education department for 15 years where she loved assisting the parents and their children as they advanced through the school system. After contracting Lyme Disease, she reluctantly retired in 2000.

Upon retiring, she moved from her longtime home of 40 years to a retirement community on Long Island to be near her children and grandchildren. Known for not being able to sit still, she worked at the North Shore Public Library and volunteered at her local church while spending time with her grandchildren and enjoying her varied interests such as sharing her classic “Nannyisms” reading fiction (particularly French spy novels), watching the History Channel, tending to her gorgeous flower boxes and potted plants as well as shopping at Costco and poking around the HomeGoods store.

Joan is survived by her three children—Nora McSweeney (John), of Setauket, New York; Jennifer Lugar (Todd), of Atlanta; David Scollard (Tammy), of Greenwich, Connecticut; and four grandchildren—Erin, John, David and Lindsay. Her sister- in-law, Lynn Irwin, of Fairfield, CT and her brother Henry “Hank” Scollard, several nieces and nephews and her wonderful caregivers Lisa Share and Doreen Sullivan. She was predeceased by her parents, Michael and Norah Irwin, her husband, David Scollard, and her brother Robert Irwin.

A service will be held at St. Peter/St. Mary Church at 10:00 a.m. located at 115 Broadway, Haverstraw, NY 10927 after which burial will take place at St. Peter’s Cemetery located at Route 202/Route 9 West in West Haverstraw, New York.

In lieu of flowers, the family knows Joan would appreciate a donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital which she donated to for many years: 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or stjudes.org/donate.