Joan Ellen Deady
October 3, 1953 – March 23, 2014
Joan Ellen Deady, a long-time friend and supporter of the Bay Times and Betty’s List, as well as a member of the Ladies Go Biking group, died at her home in San Francisco after a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Joan was predeceased by parents Robert James Deady and Lucille Holmquist Deady, and is survived by brother Timothy Edward Deady of Fairfax, VA, sister Catherine Deady Wilcox of Glastonbury, CT, nephews Benjamin Deady Wilcox of Redding, CA, William Christopher Wilcox of Newport, RI, nieces Siobhan Lucille Wilcox and Dana Carlson Wilcox of Glastonbury, CT, and several cousins who loved and supported her. She is also survived by many dear friends.
Joan spent her first eight years in El Cerrito, CA, before her family moved to Grand Junction, CO, and later Edison, NJ, where Joan graduated from John P. Stevens High School in 1971. She then attended the University of Vermont, graduating in 1975, at which time she returned to her roots in CA to attend and graduate from the University of California at Davis with a Master of Science in Nutrition in 1979.
Following completion of her master’s degree, she moved to San Francisco. She graduated from the University of California School of Pharmacy with a Doctor of Pharmacy in 1987. She completed a Residency in Hospital Pharmacy in 1988 at the University of Minnesota Hospitals in Minneapolis. She worked for two years in Albany, NY, as a pharmacist before returning to San Francisco, where she lived for the last 32 years. During her long career as a pharmacist, Joan worked at the University of California Poison Control Center, and most recently with Sutter Health. She retired from Sutter Health in 2013.
Joan was an excellent cook and published “Low-fat Cooking in the Cultural Blur of California” in 2000. It combined her interest in cooking, nutrition and science.
Joan loved San Francisco and all it had to offer. She enjoyed the food and wine of San Francisco, Napa and Sonoma Valley. She enjoyed cycling with local cycling groups, golfing, walking, admiring the beauty of the city and surrounding landscape, and skiing in Tahoe. She took countless photos and videos of California, family and friends. She was devoted to her nieces and nephews, and crafted homemade birthday cards supporting their interests.
She was a focused and determined individual who worked extremely hard as a pharmacist. Once diagnosed, her determination focused on living as long as she could, and as fully as she could. She continued to walk, go to the gym, take yoga, ride her bike, and golf. She did some form of exercise each day, and enjoyed the outdoors as much as possible throughout her treatment for cancer. She never complained.
Joan left behind a legacy of humility for her professional accomplishments, and served as a model of using sheer will, courage and determination to live each day fully, in spite of rough circumstances. Her family is grateful to all who supported and loved her during her life, and throughout her illness.
A celebration of Joan’s life and legacy is being planned for sometime in the future. Memorial donations in her memory may be made to The American Cancer Society by visiting the website cancer.org, or by calling 800-227-2345
800-227-2345.
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