Joan Rattigan Riordan of Vernon, CT passed away peacefully on March 7, 2015 in Jupiter, FL. Joan was born June 11, 1930 in Boston, Massachusetts to Alice and Frederick Rattigan. She was raised and went to elementary and high school school in Watertown, MA, and was a graduate of Boston University. One warm summer day, while vacationing on Cape Cod, she met her husband, life partner and best friend Edward Riordan of Worcester, MA, and they were married on September 14, 1957. Ed and Joan moved to Vernon, CT and it was there that she raised her family. After having her children, Joan returned to college and obtained her Master’s Degree in Education. She taught at Lake Street School in Vernon for 23 years and frequently mentioned that she loved every day of going to work. Joan was proud of teaching a generation of Vernon school children how to read and write. She enjoyed spending her summers on Whortleberry Island on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH where she and Ed built a family cottage, and in retirement, her winters in sunny Jupiter, FL.
In addition to her husband, she leaves behind her three children and their spouses: David Riordan and his wife Carol of Willington, CT; Thomas Riordan and his wife Geralda of Andover, CT and Anne Kessler and husband Myles of Bolton, CT. In addition she leaves behind 6 grandchildren; Kelsey, Galen and Patrick Riordan, and Zachary, Dylan and Camryn Kessler. She will be greatly missed by us all.
A Mass of Remembrance will be held on March 19, 2015 at Sacred Heart Church, 550 Hartford Turnpike, Vernon, CT at 11:00 am. Burial will be held at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Williams Syndrome Association (www.williams-syndrome.org) or Hospice of Palm Beach County (www.hpbc.com). For online condolences please visit: www.pietrasfuneralhome.com
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