Obituary of Joan Janette Kaskeski

Born December 9, 1946 in Southwick, MA where she lived and attended local schools until her marriage to Richard Kaskeski in 1967, they lived in Westfield a few years. Sadly, Joan's mother died and she found herself in the role of mother to her younger sister Terry as she finished high school. They later moved to a farm in Granby, MA, where she lived for more than 40 years. She spent her early life working part time as a bookkeeper and full time on the farm with her growing family, cows, chickens and vegetables. They divorced and she continued to live with her family on the farm. After their son David completed his education in agriculture at SUNY Cobelskill, he managed a farm in Vermont then returned home to grow their own farm into what would become Dave's Natural Garden. She took great joy in her family and their accomplishments.

For many years, Joan enjoyed helping people at the farm stand. She loved people; their stories of daily life and their travels and developed lasting friendships with many. She loved to travel. Her favorite birthday trip was to New York City by train with her sisters to enjoy a visit with her daughter Amy and view the beauty of New York Christmas decorations. She especially enjoyed attending a few of the Broadway shows Amy worked on with a backstage visit after.

She loved animals as well and always shared her home with cats, dogs and especially birds. To her surprise and delight her pair of birds recently hatched 2 babies that are loved and cared for by her daughter, Joy.

In recent years, she retired from bookkeeping but continued to work tirelessly with cleaning and sorting hundreds of eggs every day for their loyal customers. She also loved to spend time with plants and flowers. her "happy place" was in the greenhouses in winter with her son, David and his sweetheart Meghan, especially when it was time to transplant pansies and violas.

Faith in God was important to her daily life. She kept a list and prayed for many every night. She died at home surrounded by her family on Friday, April 5, 2024 after a short illness. She was predeceased by her parents, Grace Thornton and Everett Miller and her second husband, Stony Marshall. She leaves behind her ex-husband, Richard Kaskeski and their three children; Joy at home, Amy (Leonard) of NYC and David (Meghan) at home. She also leaves her sisters, Sandra Herzig (Peter) of Chester and Terry Miller-Bennett of West Springfield, MA. She will be missed by nephews, Ryan Bennett (Jennifer) of West Springfield, MA, Stephen Bennett (Celeste) of Colorado, Keith (Cindy) Herzig of Becket, MA, Scott (Karen) Herzig of Chicopee, MA and many great nieces and nephews.

She will be sadly missed by all.