Contributions to the tribute of Joan Elma BaRoss

Tribute Wall

Sunday

January

Visitation

2:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Sunday, January 22, 2023

M. A. Connell Funeral Home Inc.

934 New York Avenue

Huntington Station, New York, United States

Monday

January

Mass

10:00 am

Monday, January 23, 2023

St. Philip Of Neri

344 Main St

Northport, New York, United States

Monday

January

Final Resting Place

11:30 am

Monday, January 23, 2023

Northport Rural Cemetery

Sandy Hollow Road

Northport, New York, United States

Inger Gauperaa lit a candle

Monday, January 23, 2023

When Joan passed away I lost a dear cousin. Despite the long distance between us, I felt we were close. I am ten years younger and thinking back I am sure I wore clothes in the early 1950th, she had worn. After the war, we got an American trunk from her mother, my aunt, which among a lot of things I don’t remember, there was clothes perfect for my size. Being 5/6 years old I probably did not think about my cousin at the time, but now I do. In 1968/69, when I had finished my education as Physical Therapist, I worked in a rehabilitation center in New Jersey. My American family, Joan and John and my aunt and uncle, was always there for me. I learned to know Joan as a loving and caring person. I was always welcome in her home, which was of great comfort to me. Her home and my aunt’s home became my home away from home. In 1989 Joan and John came to Norway and I had the joy of having them at our home for some days, happy to show them our part of the country. Next time we meet was at Joan’s mother’s 90. birthday with celebration in John house in New Jersey. The last day’s of our (me and my children, Ingunn and Kristian) visit, Joan and John invited us to stay with them on Long Island. It was such a joy to came to their home again! The last time Joan and I met was in 1906 when she together with John, Carolyn and Doug visited Norway. I will treasure all the memories of Joan, a sweet, loving and caring cousin. With love, Inger (Kjensjord Gauperaa)

Kjell Wagner lit a candle

Sunday, January 22, 2023

I will always remember Joan for her warm personality. She was interested in our families, knew the names of our kids and those of my siblings and even remembered some special features of a few of them. We met a few times and John and Joan visited us once in the Netherlands where they visited my mother. I realize, writing this, that remembering Joan is also paying a tribute to John. They were inseparable in the most positive sense of the word. The first time I met Joan took place on a trip where I accompanied my mother who wished to meet her sister Gudrun again after nearly forty years. We planned the trip by writing letters and a rare phone call, those were the days. A few days before we were bound to leave Joan called us early in the morning. She wanted to make sure we had the right papers and we checked our itinerary, so thoughtful. Later that morning I realized she called in the wee small hours of the night at that time in Greenlawn! That was characteristic of her, concerned about the well being of her loved ones. On my mothers’s second trip, I thought on the occasion of Gudrun’s 85th birthday which we celebrated at John’s place with a few Norwegian relatives present as well. After the party my mother left to stay for two weeks at Gudrun and Roy’s place in upstate New York. When she landed at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport she proudly showed her platina coloured permanent wave hairdo. Gudrun had applied her professional hairdresser’s skills on my mother with great success. “You know”, my mother said, “Joan said that I looked like a real American senior citizen”. And she shone with pride. When John and Joan visited her in the Netherlands it was if the had met only yesterday. In no time at alle they shared memories of the previous trip and exchanged information about the (grand) children as if there was no language barrier. I think that’s what you could call the mutual understanding which coincides with loving care for each other. They met my two brothers who lived with my mother. Later they met our children and the children of my siblings Odd and Jorun. I remember our son Koen got a New York Yankee t-shirt in which he showed off at school. They met again when Koen returned from a scholar ship at the Cornell College in Iowa. He was received like the prodigal son, treated like one of the family which made a great impression on him. I had the opportunity to visit the USA a few times when I attended educational conferences in several states. One time I attended a conference in Orlando Florida which gave me a chance to go to the Florida retreat of John and Joan. It was worth the trip, again I experienced their great hospitality and warm interest. We had a trip on their boat and got a taste of the Florida senior citizens way of life. When I had to return back to Orlando, Joan treated me on food and drinks for at least three days so she had no worries I should starve or dehydrate. Her care lasted longer than my trip. This is how I and all of my family in the Netherlands who personally made acquaintance with her will remember her: loving, caring and interested in all whom she loved and felt connected with. May she rest in Peace. Kjell Wagner son of Ingeleiv Wagner-Soreide, cousin to Joan.

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934 New York Avenue
Huntington Station NY 11746
Phone: 631-427-1123
Fax: 631-385-2306

maconnell@optonline.net
maconnellfuneralhome.com

Joan Elma BaRoss

1935 - 2023

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