Joan Pendelton Merritt, 87, of Wrentham, passed away peacefully on Sunday, October 31, 2021, at her home surrounded by her loving family. She was the beloved wife of 67 years to John W. Merritt.
Born in Medford on November 21, 1933, she was the daughter of the late Arthur F. and Gladys H. (Stobbart) Pendelton.
Joan was a resident of Wrentham for the past 67 years. She moved a lot as a child because of her father’s job and ultimately graduated from high school in Okmulgee, OK.
Before her retirement, she worked as a bookkeeper and sales associate at the former Reids TV and Appliance in North Attleboro for many years.
Joan volunteered as an ombudsman at nursing homes in Needham as well as the Pond Home in Wrentham and The Doolittle Home in Foxboro for 19 years.
She was a very serious duplicate bridge player and achieved Life Master status. She loved to play tennis and collect rocks and paint on them. She and her Husband became snowbirds at Sun N Fun RV Resort in Sarasota FL in their retirement years. Her biggest enjoyment was family and spending time with her grand-nieces in which she was the honorary grandmother.
Besides her husband, she is survived by her daughters, Penny Merritt of Wrentham, Nancy Billingsley of Green Cove Spring, FL., the late Beverly Linton Bennour and her son-in-law Youcef Bennour of Arlington.
She is also survived by her niece Laura Pendleton Atwood and her husband Richard, Jr. of Franklin, her nephew Lars Pendelton of Florida, grand-nieces, Breanna, Mackenzie and Julia Atwood and grand-nephew Scott Pendelton.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a calling hour on Saturday, November 6 from 12 – 1 p.m. at the Ginley Funeral Home of Franklin, 131 Main Street (www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com) followed by a funeral service at 1 p.m. in the funeral home. Burial will take place at Wrentham Center Cemetery at a later date.
Joan’s family asks that if you are unvaccinated to kindly wear a mask at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in Joan’s memory to: Donation Processing at The Michael J. Fox Foundation (for Parkinson’s Research) P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 (www.michaeljfox.org/donate).