Boscawen, N.H. —
Joan was born in Nashville, Tenn. on Jan. 6, 1923. She was the daughter of the late William Grogan McMahon and Edna Morton McMahon. The family also lived in Cleveland, Ohio and Beverly, Mass. before settling in New Rochelle, N.Y., where Joan graduated from New Rochelle High School.
She attended Mount Holyoke College, where she majored in English, and was a founding member of the Victory-8s, an a capella singing group, which later became known as the V-8s. She toured with the V-8s, which were the first non-professionals to sing at the Stage Door Canteen in New York City.
In 1943, she graduated early and joined the U.S. Naval Reserve’s Women Accepted for Volunteer EmergencyService (WAVES). She served in Washington, DC, as a codebreaker, doing what was then top secret work on Japanese codes.
After the war, she worked as a radio advertising time buyer. She married James F. O’Hayer of New Rochelle in 1950. They lived in Eastchester, N.Y.; Ithaca, N.Y.; Wilton, Conn.; and Vero Beach, Fla., before moving to New London, N.H.
Joan was active in church, civic, charitable, and political causes throughout her life. She worked with the League for Service in New Rochelle; chaired the Wilton Library Board; served on the Connecticut state board of the League of Women Voters and with the Wilton branch of Nursing and Home Care; and was a member of the Wilton Democratic Party and several garden clubs.
In 1994, the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association awarded Joan its Medal of Honor for her years of work in fundraising and in programs to help low-income students.
But Joan’s most important legacy is in the lives of those she loved. She wrote detailed weekly letters to her children; kept close track of scores of relatives and friends; and arranged occasions for people to enjoy each other, or to celebrate family milestones. She deeply loved her husband, children, and in-laws, and was greatly proud of her grandchildren.
Joan loved to sing, and often introduced her family to new music. She enjoyed playing tennis, and for many years was a ferocious player of card games like bridge and cribbage.
Joan had an elegant sense of style, and always dressed impeccably. She was a beautiful, kind, and tough woman with a deep Catholic faith, constant curiosity and a desire to learn.
Joan is survived by her son, Denis and his wife Lisa Allen of Atlanta, Ga.; daughter Eileen Towne of Plymouth, N.H.; grandson William Towne of Burlington, Vt.; and granddaughter Kathleen Towne of New York City. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; three children born prematurely, who died in infancy; her brothers William and Richard McMahon; and her sister Sarah McMahon.
Visitation will be on Monday, Oct. 10, 2016, from 9:30 p.m.10:30 a.m. at Chadwick Funeral Home; 235 Main St.; New London, NH, followed by a funeral Mass at 11:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Fatima; 724 Main St.; New London, NH. Interment will follow at Old Main Street Cemetery in New London.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to any of the following: Alzheimer’s Disease Research; Catholic Relief Services; or Loaves and Fishes through Our Lady of Fatima Parish.