Joan (Ellis) Carlisle

Joan Carlisle, (née Ellis): August 21, 1926 – March 4, 2020

Joan Ellis was born in Old Humberstone, a suburb of Leicester, UK, on August 21, 1926. At the age of 18, she and her childhood friend joined the WRENs and on January 1st, 1945, embarked upon their training. Shortly after, Joan was sent to Bletchley Park and remained there for 18 months.

During that time, she met her first husband, Dennis Richardson, and they were married in September of 1950. Her first child, Kathryn (Kate) was born four years later. Shortly after, Joan and Dennis divorced and, in September, 1957, Joan married Jock Carlisle. Sara was born in 1958 and Elizabeth (Susan) followed in 1960.

Joan and her family moved to Canada in the late 1960s and lived on the Petawawa Forestry Station for nine years before finally settling in Deep River.

When the family arrived in Canada Joan, in her typical fashion, immediately embraced all things Canadian … including trying to learn to skate and ski, coping with blackflies, cooking up Kraft dinner, drinking beer from stubby brown bottles around a campfire, shopping at ‘The Met’ and driving  a station wagon the size of a small ship!

At 50, she got her Real Estate license and worked as a broker for 15 years. At close to 70, she took up hand embroidery and began to develop a collection of more than 200 hand-embroidered pictures that were displayed at local art shows and at The Deep River Artisans’ Coop. Between her years in Real Estate and her participation in the local crafts community, Joan become an integral and recognised part of the Deep River community.

We are very grateful to all those who have cared for our mother along the latter part of her journey. The wonderful staff at FlexCare in Deep River made it possible for her to remain in her home for as long as she could and, for the past year, the staff at Caressant Care in Cobden made sure she was comfortable and safe. And, a very special thank you to those friends who went out of their way to lend a hand and keep her company in her declining years.

Joan Carlisle died on March 4th, 2020, at the Caressant Care Home in Cobden, ON. She outlived her husband, Jock, by 17 years and is survived by her three daughters and one son-in-law: Kate, Sara, Susan and Ken, respectively. She was immensely proud of her six grandchildren, Stephen, Mike, Margaret, Hanna, Bitzy and Alice and grateful to have had two of them grow up on her doorstep. She is also survived by her niece, Susanna.

Joan is remembered for her cheerful disposition, her unbridled hospitality and her love and loyalty to friends and family. In the latter years, she enjoyed her weekly coffee mornings, her garden, long telephone conversations with her family, Roger Federer on TSN and the weather network! 

“My life has been made up of a series of times that I have planned well,” Joan Carlisle, Oct. 12, 2013

In lieu of flowers donations to the Deep River and District Hospital Foundation would be gratefully appreciated.