(1924 - 2021)
Joan was born in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England on August 20, 1924 and passed away peacefully in her 97th year on February 23, 2021 with her daughter at her side in Kitchener, Ontario.
She will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her son Roland (Vera), daughter Deborah, grandchildren Justin, Monica (Max) and Keenan, and great grandchildren, Aiden, Benjamin and Elizabeth, Oakley, Scarlett and Isla. She is predeceased by her father and mother Manuel and Doris Tutungean, sister Dorothy (Don) Monk, and husband Mike Sindia.
For family and friends, her memory will be cherished through the many stories she told and wrote that gave life to her indomitable spirit, sense of humor and love for life, family and all things English. Joan’s stories tell of her family in England and their narrowly escaped survival in WW2, and then trace her immigration in 1949 to Canada where she and her husband took posts as crew and cook at the historic Empire Valley Ranch on the Chilcotin in B.C. Her stories carry through to her arrival to Prince George in a time when it was still like a frontier town and the pavement on George Street had not been laid or lights erected. In Prince George she met and married Mike Sindia and raised their children. She clerked at BC Hospital Insurance, then a new government agency, but took a great sense of pride in the work she did at Prince George Planing Mills where she learned to master calculating board feet of lumber. When the pulp mills opened she took a job in the pay office and later became Paymaster of Prince George and Intercontinental Pulp Mills where she worked until she retired. She was the first woman to earn this position traditionally held by men, and had to stand up for her right to a pension as a single mother and sole provider. In her retirement Joan moved to Ontario to be close to her children. A selection of her stories gained recognition when they aired on CBC Radio and received honorable mention in the National Leacock Humorous Short Story Competition, but for all that knew Joan her spirit lives on in her many wonderful stories.
Cremation has taken place and a private family memorial will be held in the future to commemorate her life.
Online messages and condolences can be made at www.legacy.com.
Joan was born in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England on August 20, 1924 and passed away peacefully in her 97th year on February 23, 2021 with her daughter at her side in Kitchener, Ontario.
She will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her son Roland (Vera), daughter Deborah, grandchildren Justin, Monica (Max) and Keenan, and great grandchildren, Aiden, Benjamin and Elizabeth, Oakley, Scarlett and Isla. She is predeceased by her father and mother Manuel and Doris Tutungean, sister Dorothy (Don) Monk, and husband Mike Sindia.
For family and friends, her memory will be cherished through the many stories she told and wrote that gave life to her indomitable spirit, sense of humor and love for life, family and all things English. Joan’s stories tell of her family in England and their narrowly escaped survival in WW2, and then trace her immigration in 1949 to Canada where she and her husband took posts as crew and cook at the historic Empire Valley Ranch on the Chilcotin in B.C. Her stories carry through to her arrival to Prince George in a time when it was still like a frontier town and the pavement on George Street had not been laid or lights erected. In Prince George she met and married Mike Sindia and raised their children. She clerked at BC Hospital Insurance, then a new government agency, but took a great sense of pride in the work she did at Prince George Planing Mills where she learned to master calculating board feet of lumber. When the pulp mills opened she took a job in the pay office and later became Paymaster of Prince George and Intercontinental Pulp Mills where she worked until she retired. She was the first woman to earn this position traditionally held by men, and had to stand up for her right to a pension as a single mother and sole provider. In her retirement Joan moved to Ontario to be close to her children. A selection of her stories gained recognition when they aired on CBC Radio and received honorable mention in the National Leacock Humorous Short Story Competition, but for all that knew Joan her spirit lives on in her many wonderful stories.
Cremation has taken place and a private family memorial will be held in the future to commemorate her life.
Online messages and condolences can be made at www.legacy.com.
