Joan Elaine Chesbro was gifted the ultimate freedom and peace in heaven when she passed away on the Fourth of July at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital where she was also born on July 2, 1940.
She was the daughter of Lily (Wydler) and Irving Stanley Holdredge.
Joan began her education in a one room school house in Old Mystic, and later went on to attend and graduate from Fitch High School class of 1958.
She married Floyd Chesbro Jr on October 17, 1959 at the Old Mystic Baptist Church. They enjoyed many trips together including Hawaii for their 25th anniversary and Nashville for the 50th. They celebrated 56 years of marriage until Floyd’s passing in 2016.
For many years while raising the children, she assisted Floyd in organizing and documenting maintenance records for the bus fleet of Ledyard Public Schools. She then went on to help with the bookkeeping for Floyd’s Garage.
Joan enjoyed collecting gently used children’s clothing from various sources. She would wash, sort, and organize them to redistribute to family and friends that she knew could really use them. She would keep a list of all the children and their current sizes tacked on the wall. Some made it all the way to Vermont and Maine via Floyd on his road trips to see friends. Her acts of kindness were always well received by many grateful Moms.
Joan also enjoyed taking photos and sending cards. Rarely, if ever, did she send a card that didn’t have a special quote written inside along with usually the most unflattering picture of you she could find. But to her, all the photos were just perfect.
Joan loved music… country, bluegrass, and gospel. She enjoyed many concerts, country fairs and weekend festivals over the years as well as numerous trips to Nashville with Floyd.
She truly enjoyed the town of Ledyard that she lived in for over 60 years. For many years she would help Floyd arrange his antique tractor display for the Ledyard Fair weekend. She would always be decked out in her favorite John Deere attire as she headed for the chowder booth. Equally so, were the many floats Floyd put together for the Memorial Day Parade… dressed “to the nines” with her red white and blue, parked in a lawn chair on The Bennet Family’s front lawn. This put her across the street from the parade announcer and closest to the chicken BBQ that always followed.
Joan felt very blessed to have grandchildren and she truly cherished her role as “Grams”. She enjoyed giving the grandchildren everything Mom and Dad had already said No to, and in her opinion, popcorn was considered a vegetable. From running Brittany to dances and lots of shopping, loving all things New England Patriots with Maddie, and stalking construction sites in her minivan for Jake to watch when he was little, she truly invested her heart in all of them.
Joan is survived by her son Floyd Chesbro III and his wife Ann of Maryville TN, her daughter Sally Sylvia and her husband Mark of Mystic, and her son Pete Chesbro of Ledyard; her grandchildren Brittany Ceravolo of Westerly, RI, Madeline Joan Chesbro of Seattle, WA, and Jacob Sylvia of Mystic. She is also survived by her brother Donald Holdredge of Ledyard.
The family wishes to thank all the “Angels” at L&M on 6.2 that assisted in her excellent comfort care. With special gratitude extended to Lauren, Courtney, Moses and Ben. Also to Dr. Ben Newton who lighted the path to take on her recent illness and Dr. Robert Ciotola who provided Joan with exceptional care and laughter for over 25 years.
There will be no calling hours. Graveside service will be held on Saturday, July 9th at 3:00 pm at Lambtown Cemetery in Ledyard. Dinoto Funeral Home in Mystic is assisting the family with the arrangements.
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