Joan M. McEnaney Obituary
Joan M. McEnaney, 89, of Manchester, passed peacefully on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, from the love of her husband and family to the embrace of her God. Joan was a remarkably sophisticated, sincere, and independent woman, whose family was always central to her life. From her birth to Herbert and Madelyn Wood in Newark until the end in Manchester, she was ever at the center of her family's life as well.
Joan majored in Speech and Dramatics at Chestnut Hill College, where she graduated in 1953 with honors and an A.B. She went on to study Directing at Columbia. Joan served proudly for seven years as an officer in the US Navy. In the Navy, she met and fell in eternal love with her husband Thomas J. McEnaney, Jr. (Capt. USN, ret.), her dashing and eager accomplice in an emergency New Year's conveyance of champagne across state lines.
Following a brief courtship including daily Mass that Lent, Joan married her life-long cohort in October and was discharged from the Navy in due time thereafter, honorably albeit "pregnant without permission" (PWOP). She traveled the globe with her Horatio/Popeye, and was his and the family's anchor during his recurring tours of sea-duty.
Joan was an expert at finding and making a home for her family wherever in the world they were stationed, lovingly and meticulously decorating these homes with a tastefully critical eye, and then packing up and moving again. Although her family's things were always and inevitably lost or destroyed in the upheaval, she became a shrewd manager of the ensuing damage claims.
Not for the sake of the possessions but for her family. Eventually she transitioned her expertise into a career as a Real Estate broker, taking pride and joy in helping young couples to find and afford their first homes in the daunting market of Newport, RI. Joan taught English at the American high school in Stuttgart, Germany, and later to international executives at the Dunbar Language School in Acton, MA.
Grammar, she would teach to anyone who cared to learn, and her children, for free. Regardless of station or circumstance, Joan could engage anyone and everyone in cheerful, lively -- and grammatically correct -- conversation. Among her favorite venues for such engagement was the Renaissance pool with her Aqua Babes Swimming and Exercise Club.
Another was the dinner table, where Joan was known to brandish her dictionary in the course of conversation and instruction. She loved teaching and learning. Aside from the dictionary, her favorite secular books may have been Emily Post's Etiquette, Doctor Spock's Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan.
Joan is preceded in death by her daughter-in-law Donna, a fellow student of English. In ongoing testament to her life well-lived, Joan leaves behind her arch-brother Jack Wood, her sister-in-law, Mary, and her dearest classmate and friend, Maureen Leonhardt. Mrs. McEnaney is survived by her loving and beloved husband of 60 years, Capt. T.J. McEnaney, Jr. Mom is also survived by sons Thomas J. III and Michael; daughters Siobhan McEnaney-Hayes & husband John; and Maura Moralic & husband Emir.
Nana will be missed by her grandchildren John, Patrick, Brigid, Brendan, Kristina, Elisabeth, Anya, and Audrey; and great-grandchildren Lorcan, Declan, Breccan, Thomas, and James. Her smiling spirit is cherished by us all. We grieve our loss at the crowning of June, month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Cor lesu sacratissimum et misericors, dona nobis pacem.
Visitation is Friday, July 3, from 9:30 to 11:30 AM at Oliverie Funeral Home, 2925 Ridgeway Rd, Manchester, with Funeral Liturgy to follow at 12 PM at St. John's Roman Catholic Church, Lakehurst.
