Joan E. Duggan, 85

Joan E. Duggan, of Post Falls, passed away Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016, at home, after a long illness, and 22 days after the death of her husband of 63 years, James C. Duggan. She was 85 years old.

Joan Elizabeth Delaney was born in Detroit, Mich., on Aug. 7, 1931, to devout Catholic parents, Eugene Bernard and Catherine Marie Delaney, who were of Irish/French and Irish/German descent. She was raised in Howell, Mich., one of seven children: Mary Catherine, Anne, Joseph, James, and (twins who died after birth) Anne and Marie.

Her passion was tap-dancing, ballet and ballroom dancing where she studied at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. After graduating high school, she worked as a telephone operator. She and her husband were married on June 27, 1953, and made their home in Michigan. They relocated to Pasadena, Calif., in 1964 where they were parishioners of St. Andrews Catholic Church. Joan assisted at St. Andrew’s Catholic School in Pasadena where her children attended, helping the Sisters and Monseigneur Horahan, working in the principal’s office, answering the phones and performing various clerical duties. She also worked alongside her husband as an instructor at the Patricia Stevens Modeling School, where they trained young ladies in manners, poise and the art of dress.

A few years after the birth of their seventh child, they moved to Arcadia, Calif., where they raised their children. In her mid-40s, Joan attended Pasadena City College, Calif., where she completed 1,600 hours in cosmetology. She was on the Dean’s honor roll for her excellent academics. Upon completion and testing, she passed her California State Board exams where she received her professional license as a Cosmetologist. She worked at two different hair salons in Arcadia: Jean Clemente Coiffures and Victor Sabino Hair Salon.

In 1981, at the age of 50, she became very ill with A-plastic Anemia, at the time an incurable disease. She faithfully entrusted her prayers to Fr. Solanus Casey, a deceased Capuchin priest from Detroit, who was her mother and mother-in-law’s spiritual director and the cause of hundreds of miracles. He is one of Michigan’s most revered and famous priests. She was cured. After her recovery, she rediscovered the Latin Mass of her childhood, through the Indult of Pope JPII. Joan and husband James moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1988, where they devoted their lives to the daily Latin Mass and working alongside each other as the owner/operators of Daylight Donuts in Coeur d’Alene.

Joan’s devotion to the Catholic Church sparkled as brightly as her Irish blue eyes. She and Jim raised their seven children in the Faith, which was their highest priority, and were known to all for their exemplary, loving marriage. Their children remember them holding hands or dancing in the kitchen. Truly a devoted wife and mother with an unfailingly serene disposition, Joan exuded kindness and patience under circumstances of both joy and tribulation. She recognized the God-given grace to be married for 63 years without ever having a quarrel with her husband. Joan seemed to grow more beautiful with age. She was a comfort to others and an exemplary daughter of the Church, as a member of St. Joan of Arc Chapel in Coeur d’Alene. Joan died having received the Last Rites and the Apostolic Blessing, faithfully wearing her brown scapular, rosary in her hands, with her children at her side. She lived a holy life and died a holy death. Amazingly, Joan was born during the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and died on First Saturday, the day devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and within two days of Fr. Solanus Casey’s Venerable Feast Day.

In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her parents, three siblings and her daughter, Helen (Groves). She is survived by six children: Ignatius, Bernard and Eugene of California, and Mary Lynn (Kenary), Andrew and Julie Anne (Thrasher) of North Idaho; her five siblings; 29 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.

A visitation/viewing will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, 2016, at St. Joan of Arc Chapel, 773 N. 11th St., Coeur d’Alene, with a rosary to follow at 7 p.m. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, at St. Joan’s with burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Post Falls.

Donations in Joan’s memory may be made to the St. Joan of Arc Chapel Building Fund, 773 N. 11th St., Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814.

Yates Funeral Home has been entrusted with the care of final arrangements. Please visit Joan’s online memorial and sign her guest book at www.yatesfuneralhomes.com.