Obituary of Joan V. Leahy

Joan Velzora Leahy (nee Collins) passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, September 9th. She was 81 years old. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated on Monday, September 14 at 10 a.m. at Resurrection Parish, Randolph, NJ. Interment to follow at Rood Cemetery, Morristown, NJ. Visiting hours will be held on Sunday, September 13 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Norman Dean Home for Services, 16 Righter Avenue, Denville, NJ. In lieu of flowers, kindly consider donations in her memory to the good work of St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, Mt. Pleasant Animal Shelter or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Joan was born in the Bronx, NY and married her childhood sweetheart and next-door neighbor John in 1955. She and her family, including four children spent their early years together in Cincinnati, Ohio before moving back east to Randolph, NJ. She and her husband were devout Catholics and members of Resurrection Parish. Joan was a member of Women of Faith, helped with RCIA, and was a former Eucharistic minister. Her family was important above all else. A doting mother, she loved the holidays and having her children and grandchildren together to share her amazing traditional dinners. She happily welcomed all sizes and shapes of pets into the family, and shared her daughters’ love of horses. Predeceased by her husband John Dewey, Sr., and her son, John Dewey, Jr., she leaves so many wonderful memories to her daughters Diane Kwiatkoski, Barbara Luna (Daniel), son David Leahy (Kim), granddaughter Janna Foster, and grandsons John and Daniel Leahy, cousin Martha Bourassa, brother-in-law Frank Leahy and his wife, Carol, well as many loving nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. She will be missed by constant companion and rescued canine, her Shi Tzu Romeo.