Obituary of Joan M. Celata

Joan M. Celata, a homemaker and avid boater and camper, passed away after a short illness on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.  She was 88 years old.  Joan was born in the family home in Skowhegan, Maine.  She was one of 7 children born to Eva and Amos Grenier.  She grew up in Skowhegan and attended a Catholic Elementary School.  She finished her high school education in Virginia.  She worked as a seamstress until the birth of her first child and then took on the job she loved most, a homemaker.  She kept a meticulous home and was the kind and nurturing mother whom her children could go to for anything.  She and her husband Robert “Bob” married in 1957.  They lived in Somerville before settling into their forever home in Burlington in 1963. 

Joan and Bob have always been a team.  They shared their passions, brightened their lives, and cared for each other in a loving and kind way. They were into boating and fishing for many decades. Like most boaters, they started small and worked their way up gradually.  Their last boat, “Yvonne” was a 38 foot Richardson.  It was all wood, super stable, and was their weekend home during the boating season.  Just like her home, she kept the boat ship shape below deck. They docked it where the Charles River poured into Boston Harbor and within 100 yards of the Old Boston Garden.  They cruised and fished the Boston Harbor and the islands.  Being such a dignified woman, it would surprise guests that she was the one who gutted, cleaned, and cooked their catch of the day. She and Bob were also members of the Deep-Sea Fishing Club.  In their retirement years, they traded the boat for a camper which they towed to St. Augustine, Florida for 15 years in a row.  They had many great camping snowbird friends whom they shared the winter months with.  When the ride became to much, they rented for five more years.  They enjoyed Sunday rides and trips to Kelly’s on Revere Beach for lunch.  The last few years the couple have worked together overcoming and dealing with health issues related to their age. 

Joan had a number of hobbies over the years.  She loved animals and always had parakeets and the occasional Guinea pigs as pets.  She was an avid bird watcher.  When she couldn’t get out, she became a YouTube fanatic.  She loved to bake with her beer bread and muffins being her family’s favorites.  She would have her grandchildren over for sleepovers and allow them to help her in the kitchen.  She was a great knitter as well.  She made sweaters, hats, slippers, mittens, rugs, and Afghans and gave them to family members, friends, neighbors, and donated the rest to local charities.  She was blessed to have such a wonderful family whom she shared her and their passions with during her lifetime.  They will remember her for her strength, kindness, love, and the many adventures they shared with her as a family.

Joan was the beloved wife of 65 years of Bob Celata.  She was the loving mother of Michael Celata & his wife Carol LeBlanc-Celata of Tewksbury and Yvonne Celata & her fiancée’ Brian Ducharme of Manchester, NH.  She was the much-loved grandmother of Scotia Corley of Tewksbury, Isabel Celata of Tewksbury, Patric Celata and Ryan Celata both of West Palm Beach, Florida.  She was the sister of Joseph Grenier of VA, the late  Mary Runnells, James Grenier, John Grenier, Mary Anne LeRocque, and Anthony Grenier.  She was also survived by many nieces and nephews. 

Visiting hours will be held at the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn Street, Burlington on Saturday, August 6 from 8:30 to 9:30am. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated in St. Malachy Church in St. Veronica Parish, 99 Bedford Street, Burlington at 10am.  Services will conclude with a burial in Pine Haven Cemetery in Burlington.  Relatives and friends are respectively invited. 

Memorials, in Joan’s name, may be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 186 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143 or www.littlesistersofthepoorboston.org.