Joan was born in Toronto, Ontario, May 24,1932; hence, her middle name Victoria. Her parents were Henry (aka Harry) Ford Gulston, born in Lisle, ON, 1894, and Mary Marjorie Buchanan (known as Marjorie and "Babe"), born in Toronto, 1907. Joan was a little sister for Charles (Charlie) and Mary Marjorie (Marni). The family lived in the east end of Toronto, known as the Beach(es), on Wineva Avenue. Eventually they made the move to Laws Street in the west end.
Joan attended Humberside Collegiate Institute where she had lots of friends and played lots of sports, including tennis, basketball, and badminton, following her mother's example. During these years she was also a camper and then a counsellor at Camp Calumet on Lake Boshkung in Haliburton. She stayed in touch with her pals from Calumet, reuniting with them annually until quite recently.
Upon graduating from high school, Joan enrolled as a student at Toronto Western Hospital Atkinson School of Nursing. A graduate of the Class of '53, she received an award for most likely to succeed in professional development! No surprise there. Her experience as a nurse included some harrowing times in the emergency department. Again as was her style, she kept many friends from her days at nursing school, for decades after they all entered the work force.
In 1956 she married Barry Thornton and they had three children: Paul, Ian, and Marni. The family lived on Laws Street until 1965, when they relocated close by to Bridgeview Road in the Old Millside neighbourhood, across the Humber River from the Old Mill Restaurant & Inn. Joan lived there for the rest of her life - a total of 56 years - and, naturally, made many dear friends there.
In 1967, Joan and Barry split, and she raised three children while working full-time and, for seven years until 1975, earning her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree part-time at the University of Toronto.
Joan taught in the ESL, Visiting Homemakers, Health Care Aide and other programs at a Toronto Board of Education centre, and in 1975, joined the full-time faculty at George Brown College teaching nursing students. She took part in the first (or one of the first) college faculty strikes in Ontario. (Picture in photo gallery. Years later on strike myself, I stood in the same place she did!)
During her time at George Brown, she met Jack deBoer, a professor and labour specialist, and they married in September of 1975. They spent time travelling in Europe, Joan loving Jack's hometown of Amsterdam the most. They often enjoyed getting together with friends and having lively conversations. Speaking of friends, Jack brought home a mutt from Quebec, so we named the pup Pierre since P. Trudeau was Canada's prime minister at the time. Pierre was a wonderful addition to our family and we loved to dress him up in all kinds of things. He tolerated it well. :)
Unfortunately, Jack was diagnosed with cancer and passed away in 1986. Joan felt that Jack was "the one" for her, so Joan was pleasantly surprised when she felt love again with Hugh Lloyd, a close friend of our family in Winnipeg. They had a long-distance romance for a few years before tying the knot in Toronto in 1988. Hugh's sons David and Derek, and daughters Dorothy and Mary, and niece Margie Jamieson, and extended family joined ours and became great friends.
Joan took early retirement from teaching and worked part-time as a staff nurse and supervisor at Runnymede Health Chronic Care Hospital (now Runnymede Healthcare Centre.) When she retired from there, her activity didn't stop. She was a member of a number of clubs and organizations, including The Boulevard Club, where her parents were members for decades, the Second Mile Club and was a Second Mile Rockette, the Etobicoke Lawn Bowling Club (where she served as President for a few years in her 80s!), the Scottish Country Dance social club, and she volunteered at a west-end food bank location. She frequently enjoyed coffee, tea, or wine with friends, and cultivated her garden, a work of art. She and I travelled a number of times to Kenora, ON, to visit with family at her niece and nephew's cottage on Lake of the Woods. These visits were lots of fun for her; she enjoyed the outdoors and being with family, and was not afraid to try new things, like tubing at the age of 83!
Her friends, family, and garden gave her strength and support when her son, Ian, passed away in October of 2019, of the heart failure he had suffered for a few years. Joan and Ian had a special bond, likely borne of the struggles they had in Ian's teen years, and his death was, of course, a tremendous blow to her.
As we all know, Joan loved plants and animals, and always had plenty of both in her home. She patiently indulged her kids in their pet snakes, mice, hamsters, gerbils, and Guinea pigs, and loved her own several dogs over the years (Pierre, Beau, Whoopie, Lucy), and her two cats, Scamp and Lady. Her solarium was her sanctuary, where, among her orchids, violets, and other plant species, she worked on crosswords and made to-do lists, and watched the birds come and go from the feeders and birdbaths she provided for them.
Joan had developed a heart condition in the 1990s and received a pacemaker in 2015. She took her cardiac walk every day and remained self-sufficient, living independently. On August 4, I took her to St. Joe's Health Centre as she was short of breath. She had hemolytic anemia and her condition deteriorated rapidly, affecting many of her organs. Despite the care and best efforts of St. Joe's staff, Joan passed away with Paul, Margie, and me at her side, the afternoon of August 7. She has left a huge hole in the lives and hearts of all who knew her, and memories of her will be cherished always.
