Joanne C. (Lane) Sullivan, passed away on Saturday, December 5, 2015 at her home in Keene, NH. She was 47 years old. She was born in Quincy, MA. on September 16, 1968 the youngest daughter of Mary (Harte) and John Lane.
Joanne was raised in Braintree, MA. in a loving home with her older sister and three older brothers. She maintained many friendships through the years with her childhood friends from Woodedge Avenue. She was an excellent student, graduating from Braintree High School in 1986 and Bridgewater State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education in 1990. She also received her Master’s Degree in Instruction and Curriculum from Keene State College in 2009.
Joanne met her future husband Chris while working at Souper Salad restaurant at the South Shore Plaza in 1983 and they were married at St. Claire’s Church in Braintree, MA. on September 6, 1991. They moved to Keene, NH. in 1992 where she established strong roots in the community. Joanne was the amazing mother of three wonderful children: Kristian (Krista), Patrick and Catherine.
Joanne loved to travel and be outdoors hiking, kayaking, skiing and tending to her lawn and community garden. Her favorite hiking, walking and biking trails surrounded her home in West Keene – especially when she would bring her beloved dog Rudy along with her.
She spent two years with her family on an adventure of living in Nottingham, England in the UK where she made lifelong friends in the village of Bingham and created memories for her husband and children with trips to Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Spain, Belgium, Holland and Italy where she was even able to attend mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.
She enjoyed skiing in Colorado, Lake Tahoe and local mountains in Vermont and New Hampshire including Smuggler’s Notch, Stowe and Bretton Woods. She enjoyed beach vacations to Vieques PR, the Riviera Maya, Sanibel Island, Miami, Martha’s Vineyard and Falmouth.
She traveled to see the beauty of the Grand Canyon, Notre Dame Football in South Bend, the waterfall in Niagara, friends in San Francisco, bright lights and big buildings in New York City, the prayer and devotion of Steubenville East and the quiet life of the Amish in Pennsylvania where she developed a love for quilting. She also managed to squeeze in some trips to Las Vegas, Montreal and Foxwoods to play some blackjack and the slot machines – as she said “You can’t win if you don’t play”…
No matter where she went in the world, Keene remained her home and Bath, Maine remained her favorite spot to visit. She loved the Bath area so much that she purchased a second home in Phippsburg, ME only 5 minutes from Popham Beach where she loved to collect sand dollars with her children every summer.
Joanne was a teacher for 20 years including her early years at Bright Horizons in Quincy, MA. She was a volunteer and tutor in the collaborative preschool in Keene while her children attended the program and became a teacher with her own classroom in 2003. She moved on to become a Kindergarten Teacher at Franklin School in 2012. Joanne was nominated for NH. Teacher of the Year in 2007 and in 2014 – she attended Space Camp in 2007 as the NH. Teacher of the Year representative. She was selected as the Walmart Local Teacher of the year in 2006.
Teaching was her passion. Her most important lesson was one of tolerance and acceptance and she enjoyed working with special education students. She felt honored to help instill a love for teaching in the student teachers she hosted from Keene State College in her classroom. She touched many lives through teaching. She made a quilt for every student in her classroom as memento and she has maintained many close relationships with the families she worked with long after they left her classroom.
Joanne was an active member of St. Margaret Mary church where she taught Religious Education and volunteered as a lector. She was a member of the JDA at Jonathan Daniels School and a member of the boosters for the KHS Girls Cross-Country team. She was a Girl Scout Leader, a home visitor and respite caregiver for RISE as well as a volunteer at the Hundred Nights Shelter for the homeless in Keene.
Joanne celebrated and lived every day to the fullest. She is survived by her husband and soul-mate, Chris and their children, Krista, Patrick and Catherine all of Keene, NH. as well as her father, John Lane of Braintree, MA. Her sister, Susan (Lane) Dugdale and her husband Bill of Portsmouth, NH. her brother, Brian Lane and his wife Sue or Stoughton, MA. her brother, Michael Lane of Braintree, MA. her brother, Jack Lane of Quincy, MA. and her sister-in-law, Darlene Sullivan-Lee and her husband Michael of Randolph, MA. She is survived by her nieces and nephews; Kelly, Brian, Laura, Pamela, Mykel, Myles, Paige, Perry, Matthew, Jeff and Olivia. She is also survived by numerous close friends including her “second families”: the Kelly’s, Skinner’s, Nichol’s, Moore’s, Delaney’s, Cook’s, Schreiver’s and the May’s.
Calling hours will be held at the Cheshire Family Funeral Chapel on Friday, December 11th from 4 – 7 pm. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, December 12th at 11:00 am. at St. Margaret Mary’s Church, 33 Arch St. Keene, NH. 03431. Burial will follow in the family lot at Monadnock View Cemetery, Park Ave. Keene, NH. 03431. In lieu of flowers please consider performing a random act of kindness in Joanne’s name or making a donation to: Joanne C. Sullivan Memorial Scholarship, ATTN: Michelle Howard, Savings Bank of Walpole, 400 West Street, Keene, NH. 03431. This fund is being created in her honor for the benefit of future graduates of Keene High School going into teaching. All services are under the care of Cheshire Family Funeral Chapel and Crematories, 44 Maple Ave. Keene, NH. 03431. www.cheshirefamilyfuneralhome.com
