LACONIA ---- Joan (St. Pierre) Levasseur Chandler, 91, of Paugus Park, long time Laconia resident and realtor, passed peacefully at her home on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.
Joan was born on April 14, 1932, in Danvers, MA, the daughter of Donat and Aldea (Savoie) St. Pierre.
Joan moved with her family to Laconia, NH from Pittsfield, MA in 1945 after her father passed. She worked for her brother Pete St. Pierre when he was starting his long-lasting restaurant business. She met her first husband, Bud Levasseur, in high school and they were inseparable. Bud was soon drafted into the military and was stationed in Macon, GA. She drove there with her mom and brother and married Bud in a small wedding service. They had two children, Michael and Terry.
Bud became a PGA Golf Professional and Joan supported his career doing his bookkeeping and keeping the household running. She was very involved at the Laconia Country Club, playing the game, scoring tournaments and always pitching in to help. Bud was the Golf Pro there until his death in 1975.
Bud’s unexpected passing at 44 shocked the family and Joan needed a career to support her young family. She struggled for a few years but eventually obtained her real estate license. Joan worked for Flo Cummins Real Estate and was very successful. She was outgoing and enjoyed meeting people. She always said how much she loved her job and she was very good at it.
Joan was a realtor until she was 80 years old!
Joan married Calvin Chandler, a retired Lieutenant Colonel pilot in the Army, in 1981. They were a good match and liked to travel and have fun together. She liked to spend time with Cal’s children and grandchildren.
Joan was a wonderful wife and mother, totally devoted to and proud of her children. She loved to spend time with them and with her best friends Ellie Volpe (deceased) and Flo Cummins.
She liked to shop and was a bit of a fashionista. She was very much into accessories. She always wore a special scarf, necklace, earrings or belt, and don’t try to hide the black striped pants… she would hunt them down. She always was stylish and put together.
As tiny as she was, she loved to eat and enjoyed good food. She was a fan of eating out at restaurants, cooking and entertaining at home. She also made the best pie crusts around (and would remind you of that) and her specialties were apple and chocolate crème.
Joan also loved her lake house which they bought 2 years prior to Bud’s death. It needed a lot of improvements, but she worked hard, made the updates needed and it was her favorite place to be. She loved to work her yard and could often be found pulling weeds or trimming hedges.
She was a lifelong devoted Catholic and parishioner of Sacred Heart (St. Andre Bessette) Church.
The family would like to express sincere gratitude to her main caregivers, Amy Foster along with Dawn Phillips, Katie Sexton and Peggy Fafara for their love and care, enabling Joan to stay in her cherished home until the end. Amy oversaw the caregivers, worked with hospice, and essentially managed the household, providing valuable assistance during this difficult period.
Joan is survived by her two children Michael Levasseur and Theresa (Terry) Levasseur Noonan and husband James, step-children, Kathy (Chandler) Noyes and husband Frank, Jay Chandler and wife Kim, Steve Chandler and wife Maria, Scott Chandler and wife Lisa and Beth (Chandler) Murphy and husband George. She has 9 step grand-children and several nieces and nephews. She also has 2 sisters-in-law, Barbara St. Pierre and Loretta Levasseur.
She is predeceased by husbands Norman (Bud) Levasseur and Calvin Chandler in addition to her brother Pete, sisters Cecile and husband George and Beatrice and husband Romeo, also by brothers-in-law Clem and wife Edith, Roger and wife Joyce, Sonny and sisters-in-law Lorraine and husband Marcel and Dorothy and husband Norman.
If you wish, memorial donations in Joan’s name can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 166 S. River Road # 210, Bedford, NH 03110 or the New Hampshire Humane Society, PO Box 572, Laconia, NH 03247.
There will be no calling hours.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at 10:00am, at St. Andre Bessette Parish-Sacred Heart Church, 291 Union Avenue, Laconia, NH 03246.
Burial will follow the Mass at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Garfield Street, Laconia, NH.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services/603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit wilkinsonbeane.com.