Joan Marie White Gosney

Joan was called to eternal rest the evening of Friday, October 29, 2021, at the age of 94. She joins her husband, Maurice Edward, who passed on October 13, 2011. Joan and Maurice celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2010 with family and friends, for which we are all thankful.

Joan was the first baby born in Nobel, Ontario in 1927, at home, to parents James Selkirk White and Margaret Wilson White. James and Margaret immigrated to Canada from England in 1923. She was second born in her family. Nobel was a town established by CIL and named after Alfred Nobel the inventor of dynamite.  Nobel is on the shore of Georgian Bay and Joan’s heart has always been there. She spoke fondly of a childhood filled with living in a loving family and in a small community on The Bay. Joan and Maurice met in Parry Sound, he was a dispatcher for the CNR and she was a telephone operator for Bell. They married in the small Nobel United Church with a reception at “The Club”, which is no longer in existence. They moved to Barrie and had their children. A five-year stint in Capreol and then the last 53 years in London. Joan was a doer and a lifelong member of the Anglican Church Women (ACW). She enjoyed sponsoring children, writing letters to stay connected with them for many years, and volunteering for countless events and groups. A longtime choir member of Trinity Anglican Church in Barrie, St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Capreol, St. Margaret’s Anglican Church in London and St. Michael & All Angels in London. Church life was very important to Joan. Thank you to the Archdeacon Sam Thomas, Rector of St. Michael’s & All Angels for his support of our parents for so many years. Joan leaves behind her children: Susan (Dave Chandler), Jamie (Victoria), and John; grandchildren: Adam, Ryan (Christal), Daniel (Amanda), Dawn (Michael), and David (Lauren); great-grandchildren: Lilly, Mya, Owen, and Jude. A family of two has now become 18 – amazing! She was predeceased by her brother, Gordon White and his wife, Marion; sister, Evelyn Uranick and her husband, George. Thank you, to nieces and nephews and to her cousin, Elizabeth Richmond in the UK, for staying in touch and for caring. Joan had music in her soul and passed that trait along to her children. She was a great cook, a knitter, a cottager, a homemaker, a church lady, a gardener, an animal lover and a good friend. She will be missed by her lifelong friend, Bess McIlwain. She loved the cottage on Blind Bay, and she and Dad spent many happy April to October days, swimming, boating, entertaining, fishing, touring about and relaxing in the place that made them the happiest. Thank you to Longworth Retirement Residence for the nine years that Mom and Dad lived there. It’s just a wonderful place. Also, thank you to all staff at Arbor Trace Memory Care Center for their care and support over the last three difficult years. Time to rest Mom, your work is done…your legacy lives on in your children and grandchildren.

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Due to COVID-19 restrictions the service is by invitation only. Cremation has taken place. A memorial service will be conducted at St. Michael & All Angels Anglican Church, 397 Springbank Drive, London, on Saturday, November 6, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. A private family committal will take place at Carling Cemetery, Nobel, Ontario, at later date. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate those wishing to make a donation in memory of Joan, to consider St. Michael & All Angels Memorial Fund.