Joan McNamara

Joan Foley McNamara was born November 12, 1930 and passed away October 22, 2024 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Joan was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Francis Foley and Estelle Frank, and was a protective older sister to her brother, Richard Foley, who she adored. After losing her mother at a young age, she was primarily raised by her three aunts: Laura, Agnes, and Elizabeth Foley who devoted their lives to raising her and her brother.

An excellent student and lover of tennis, Joan graduated from Mother McCauley High School, studied in upstate New York, and later received her Master's Degree in English from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, California. A devoted Catholic, she became a nun right after college, joining the Sisters of the Sacred Heart and serving as a teacher and principal at their school in Santa Barbara.

It was in California that Joan met a young Jesuit, Patrick McNamara, and fell in love. They both left their careers in the Catholic Church and were married in 1968. They moved to Albuquerque, where Patrick taught at the University of New Mexico. They had two daughters, Laura (1969) and Amy (1970). Joan worked as a high school English teacher with two long tenures at Menaul High School and St. Pius X. She was passionate about teaching young writers and sharing her deep love of literature with others. Joan loved reading the Sunday New York Times out loud to her family: while her audience may have sometimes tuned out, Joan kept right on going!

Joan was hard working, devoted to her husband and family, and adored her many dogs. She loved flowers, working tirelessly in her garden in Corrales to ensure a colorful landscape. When she was a young mother, she was an avid cook, successfully working her way through most of Julia Child's recipes, a notable exception being a rock-like sponge cake that she stubbornly attempted five times. She loved a great dinner party with friends and telling humorous stories.

Joan is survived by her daughters, Laura McNamara and husband Paul Johnson of Sandia Park, NM; Amy McNamara, her partner Joseph Nguyen, and her grandson Rufus Wollo of Oakland, California. Joan will be laid to rest at Sunset Memorial Park next to her husband Patrick, who passed away in 2001.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Alzheimer's Association.