Joan Elizabeth McLaughlin

2nd of August 1933 to 27th of April 2022

Joan was born in Grand Falls NB to the Reverend Edwin Parkinson and his wife Beatrice (née Gale). Her father’s ministry took the family to a number of places, seemingly mostly with draughty, ill-heated rectories. She had distinct memories of living on the Gaspé coast during WW II and watching corvettes shepherding ships into convoys before their perilous voyages across the Atlantic to the UK. At one stage, the Bishop, mindful of Joan’s education in a succession of small community schools suggested that she go away to a boarding school, this she hated and soon returned home. During these times, Joan was joined by her brother Joe in 1937 and sister Christine in 1940.

One interesting community that Joan lived in was on Grand Manan, some 20 miles from the mainland. There she worked in a fish processing factory to earn her pocket money.

The family moved to St Stephen, NB & Joan had memories of venturing across the St Croix river to buy goods like Coca Cola that weren’t readily available in those days in Canada. She also recalled aircraft flying low to drop packets of cigarettes to those below - an unusual means of marketing. As she grew older, she enjoyed participation in the local amateur dramatics society.

In 1952, Joan fell pregnant and went over to Lincoln, UK where she gave birth to her first son in March 1953. She had arranged for the adoption of this son and this happened a few weeks later. She stayed on in Lincoln, working at Ruston and Hornsby which made small industrial gas turbines. She returned back to St Stephen in early 1954, no doubt glad to leave the dense smogs and post war austerity of a country still subject to rationing.

Once home, Joan met Royden (Roy) McLaughlin and was married by her father in June 1954 and moved to London ON. She remembered the journey by rail as being very uncomfortable as he had got rather sunburned and there was no air-conditioning on the train. Their son Robert arrived in 1956. Shortly after this, Joan was diagnosed with TB and she spent a considerable period in the Sanatorium. Roy left the army and took up a career in real estate sales, Joan worked in a secretarial job and told the story of the morning that she awoke to find a deer floundering in their swimming pool.

Roy sadly died in December 2000 and Joan moved to an apartment on Queen’s Avenue.

She became a a staunch member of the congregation of the nearby Bishop Cronyn church where she would read lessons. She also became a Director of the Seniors’ Home associated with the church.

In 2015, Joan and her first son were re-united after lengthy searching by the latter. They met twice a week by Skype and met in person annually with Joan making the trip to his wedding in Scotland in 2017. Mother and son talked twice weekly via Skype. She stayed at the wedding venue and was heard to remark “my bathroom is bigger than my apartment”.

Joan’s health was beginning to deteriorate in 2019 and she was admitted to Oakcrossing Care home in autumn 2021 where she passed away in April 2022.

A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday May 28th, 2022 at St. Paul's Cathedral at 472 Richmond St, London, ON with the service beginning at 11am. Interment at Woodland Cemetery will happen at a later date.