Joan R. Lovett, of West Medford, went on to be with the Lord peacefully on Thursday, August 11, 2022 in her home in West Medford, Massachusetts.
Joan was born to Clarence A. Rhone and Elmore Louise Hurley Cooper on January 16, 1934 at the Boston Lying-In Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She married her loving and “spoiling” husband, Ronald B. Lovett (“Ronnie”) in 1952 and again in 1982. She gave birth to her daughter, Judy M. Lovett, in 1953.
Joan graduated from Medford High School in 1951 and afterwards she attended Bryant & Stratton Business School and Middlesex Community College. She also attended Betty Goodman’s School of Charm with her daughter, Judy, where both participated in numerous modeling events. She used to say she was a “secretary by day and a model by night.”
Joan went on to work in the Treasurer’s and Guidance Office in the City of Medford and then was an Assistant to the Director of Admissions at Newton College of the Sacred Heart in Newton, Massachusetts. She proudly worked for Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc. (BBN) in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an Executive Assistant. BBN was notably involved with, ARPANET, the precursor to the modern Internet and was an early developer of computerized speech recognition. In the early 1980's she sent the first Facsimile (FAX) to the U.S. Post Office in Washington, D.C. from her Cambridge-based office. She last worked for The Family Center dba Parenting Journey in Somerville, Massachusetts.
In 1986, she became a Child Assault Prevention Program (“CAPP”) volunteer which was affiliated with the Department of Social Services in Malden Massachusetts (now Massachusetts Department of Children & Families). She reached over 2,200 children from grades K-6 and taught them how to be "safe, strong, and free,” and how to say "NO!"
Joan is survived by her loving family: Her grandson, Jarrett Lovett, her granddaughter, Quynn N. Lovett, her grandchildren, Samaya W. Lovett, Jeremy S. Duhon, and Zoe R. Lovett, her cousin, Katherine Bell, her nieces, Melinda- Rhone and Jacqueline Rhone, her Goddaughter, Karen Lassiter, and many other loving relatives.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her daughter, and her 3-year-old sister.
As a child growing up, she was an avid ice skater. She used to skate the Mystic Lakes and River with her father on many occasions. Her father would sometimes flood the side-yard with the water hose and eagerly wait for it to freeze over, so she and her many friends could enjoy skating. Joan was also an accomplished bowler. She participated in many competitions individually and with her husband. She won several trophies and awards.
Joan’s pride and joy was helping with, participating in, and eventually hosting her father’s legendary tennis tournament named “The Rhone Tennis Tournament” est. 1972. What started as an event to bring the sport to the African-American youth population of West Medford, often providing tennis rackets to participants, quickly blossomed into an annual 3 day event on Labor Day weekend featuring amateurs from surrounding cities and towns.
The Lovett family would like to sincerely thank you for your support, prayers, and visits during our time of sorrow. We would also like to extend our profound thanks to her personal care assistants, doctors, nurses, hospice staff, extended family, family friends, the Dello Russo Family Funeral Home, and the West Medford Community Center for all their love and support during this difficult time.
Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to visit at the Dello Russo Funeral Home, 306 Main Street Medford, from 10 – 11 AM on Saturday August 20th and are also invited to a funeral service that will also be held in the Dello Russo Funeral Home from 11 – 12 PM. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Cemetery Following committal prayers friends and family are invited to attend repass at West Medford Community Center, 111 Arlington Street, West Medford.