Our church recently lost a long beloved member, Joan Greenwood. She will be greatly missed by our congregation and all those who knew her. Our prayers are with her children, grandchildren and extended family. The photo was taken in March of 2025. Her obituary follows.
Joan Edith Larsen Greenwood, born May 5, 1941, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire departed this world on July 29, 2025, surrounded by family and notes from friends who loved and admired her. Always a caring person, Joan was the middle daughter of Harold and Edna Larsen, between Betty Haskell (deceased) and Barbara “Barbie” (Paul) Raiche. She graduated Newton-Wellesley Nursing School in 1962, and was a registered nurse.
She survived her husband, Hunter (1934-2021), and together they raised two wonderful children, Heidi (Todd) McMonigle and Andrew (Monica). She was very proud of her grandchildren: Mitchell (Michaela) McMonigle and Casey (Seth) Harris, in Kentucky, and Zoe, Calvin and Philip along the east coast. She got to enjoy great-grandma (GG) status, thanks to Ruth Marietta (3) and Stella Rose (5 weeks), who she had the gift of meeting the last week of her life.
Joan was an avid reader and loved feeding the birds. She tidied her home and picked up sticks on the lawn with gusto. She brought her refuse to the town transfer station almost as often as she frequented the local library. Her community, comprised of nursing schoolmates, Millbury neighbors, First Church members, and, more recently, her Silver Sneakers pals, gave her old and new friendships, purpose, and laughter. She dedicated years to caring for her beloved Hunter, with her trademark stoic-but-loving attentiveness, and after he died, these caring and devoted people offered her beautiful friendships which sustained her through her last days.
We will be celebrating Joan’s full life with a service Saturday, October 4, 2025, at First Congregational Church, 148 West Main St., Millbury, MA