BRUNSWICK – Joanne (Saunders) Foley, 89, of Willow Grove in Brunswick passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, after a short illness.

Joanne was born on May 27, 1934, the daughter of Amos Joseph and Laura Philbrick Saunders and was raised in Pepperell, Mass. She attended Pepperell schools and received her Nursing Certificate from Burbank Hospital School of Nursing. She married her high school sweetheart, Lawrence Foley, with whom she had five children.

With her husband in the U.S. Coast Guard, the family traveled to stations in Virginia, Guam and back to Virginia again. Joanne resumed her nursing career in the 1970s in Virginia, and after her divorce and a move back to New England, worked for many years as an emergency room psychiatric nurse at Lynn Hospital in Massachusetts, retiring at 70 years of age.

She lived for many years in Kittery, as well as Newburyport, Mass., Portsmouth, N.H., Berwick and South Berwick, before moving to Brunswick in 2008.

Joanne was an avid genealogist before the internet age and loved to travel to town offices, historical societies and cemeteries around New England to research the family history. She also authored town histories of both Pepperell and Lynn, Mass. for the “Images of America” series. Joanne had a great love of antiques and opened her own shop that she ran for several years in historic Occoquan, Va. She also loved to travel and went on trips to Ireland, England and Scotland. During Joanne’s later years living in Brunswick, she enjoyed spending time with nearby family, being part of a bowling league, and playing cards weekly with her friends.

Joanne is survived by four living children, Patrick Foley of Machipongo, Va., Karen Foley Balicki of Livermore and her husband John, Thomas Foley of Maidens, Va. and his wife Lori, and Wendy Foley of Lewiston; her seven grandchildren, Ryan Foley and partner Kristin Deweber of Solvang, Calif., Sarah Linsmeyer and husband, Greg, of Gloucester, Va., Laura Massie and husband, Peter, of Louisa, Va., Matthew Foley and wife, Hannah, of Nashville, Tenn., Bryan Foley of Richmond, Va., Caitlin Balicki and fiance, Joe Shields, of Baltimore, Md., and Casey Balicki and wife, Maria, of Chicago, Ill.; three great-grandchildren, Wyatt and Lily Linsmeyer, and Oliver Foley; and two nephews, Michael and Carl Barkhouse of Massachusetts.

Joanne was predeceased by a son, Stephen, who died shortly after birth.

A celebration of Joanne’s life will be held at the Stetson Funeral Home, 12 Federal St., Brunswick on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. Burial will be in the spring at the Town Cemetery in Pepperell, Mass.

Condolences, memories and photos may be shared with the family at http://www.stetsonsfuneralhome.com

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