Joan Reany January 29, 1927 - October 19, 2025

Joan Mairi Reany
1927 – 2025

It is with much sadness that we announce the passing of Joan Mairi Reany in her 98th year.

Joan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on January 29, 1927, the second of five children of Gladys and Ernest Churchward. After finishing her secondary schooling, she moved to Aberdeen where she completed three years of pediatric nursing and two years of general nursing training. She went to work at the hospital in Kirkcaldy but decided her education wasn’t finished and returned to Edinburgh where she graduated from the Royal Infirmary School of Midwifery in 1951.

In 1952 Joan saw an advertisement in The Scotsman newspaper looking for registered nurses for the hospital in Dryden. Her brother Reg had emigrated to Winnipeg two years earlier, and Joan sent in her application, thinking that she’d come over to Canada for a few years.
Her short-term adventure turned into a life-long residency in Dryden. Before she was to return to Scotland she went out on a date with Charlie Reany, an electrical engineer at the mill, and her plans changed. Joan and Charlie married in 1955, and she retired from full-time nursing soon after.
Joan did return to work at various times, including employment with Statistics Canada, and as a Weight Watchers leader, and she was very active as a volunteer in the community. She was involved with the Figure Skating Club and the Festival of the Arts for many years. She also served for ten years on the Dryden Board of Education, including three years as its chair, and seventeen years as the chair of the board of Patricia Gardens.

She followed the news closely and was a keen reader. She was a knitter and did needlework. She was a dedicated walker, determined to maintain good health into her later years, and she enjoyed playing mahjong (to Churchward family rules!). And as family and friends will attest, she was a very organized person!
She kept a busy social calendar and enjoyed regular gatherings with her friends, until her health no longer permitted.

Joan was devoted to her family. She took pride in their accomplishments and never missed an opportunity to celebrate an occasion with cards and gifts, and dinners at the Lodge.
She will be deeply missed by her family – daughters Susan (Ed) and Jane (Brad), granddaughters Kathleen (Adam) and Ali (Brody), sister Ann, brother lan (Cathy), cousin Stuart (Linda) and her nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her husband Charlie, her parents Gladys and Ernest Churchward, her sister Doris, and her brother Reg.

Thank you to the staff at Princess Court and the nurses and doctors at the Dryden Regional Health Centre for their care of Joan over these recent months.
If friends so desire, donations may be made to the Dryden Regional Health Services Foundation, or a charity of your choice, in Joan’s name.