Joan M. Thibault

SALEM - Joan M. Thibault, 87, of Salem, passed away peacefully, May 26, 2020 following a brief illness.

Born to the late Henry and Grace (Begg) Doucette in Peabody. She graduated from Peabody Veterans Memorial High School.

Joan shared 48 wonderful years of marriage to her late husband, Charles Thibault, and spent 63 years in the house they built together in Salem. Mrs. Thibault was an exceptional wife and 'stay-at-home-mom', and cared deeply for her family and many friends, not out of obligation, but because of who she was.

An active communicant and Eucharistic Minister at the Immaculate Conception in Salem, Joan was a volunteer cook for the homeless, an active member of the Peabody Council on Aging and longtime member of the Over The Hill Gang. She retired from skiing and tennis at age 85, but continued to bowl, dance and surprise all with her athletic abilities. Unfortunately, she never fully recovered from a stroke suffered in February of 2019.

As a child, she had a passion for horses, and always cared for any critter that showed up at her door, including an albino skunk. Dog walkers always passed a bowl of water she put out. She was an accomplished cake decorator, her high school ambition, and was known to the Plummer Home as the 'cake lady'.

An occupation that also kept her children's dentist in business. 

Truly an amazing woman! An avid boater, she spent summers with her family on Misery Island, and never a complaint about cleaning the bilge. She loved lobster but couldn't cook one herself.

Joan is survived by her sons, Charles Thibault Jr. and James Thibault and wife Angie, her daughter, Joyce Thibault Parshley and her four grandchildren, Maya, Kali, Madison and Joseph and her sister-in-law, Joanne Doucette. She was the grandmother of the late Sherry Thibault and sister of the late Jack Doucette.

ARRANGEMENTS: A Celebration of Joan’s life will be held in the future at a date and time to be announced. Assisting the family with the arrangements is O’Donnell - Cremations – Funerals – Celebrations, 84 Washington Sq., (at Salem Common) Salem. Donations in Joan’s memory to Lifebridge, 56 Margin St., Salem, MA 01970. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please visit www.odonnellfuneralservice.com  

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