Joan Lever
Joan Lever
1926 - 2023
Service Details
Tuesday, April 4th 2023 - 14:00
FUNERAL LOCATION
Lesley Shand Blandford Service Chapel, 28 East Street, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7DR
BRANCH
Lesley Shand Funeral ServiceBlandford
At the families request. No flowers please. Donations if desired.
Gallery
Love you Mum. Hoping that you’re at peace now 💕💕💕
Joan you were always my mother-in-law and my children’s Nanny Joan and Great Nanny Joan. I knew you for 45 years and had many happy moments with you. At Hythe, St Mary’s Bay, Ireland and Blandford..When you ‘let slip’ some of your war work and code breaking at Bletchley and also your work during the Bay of Pigs crisis It merely reinforced what and intelligent lady you were. Your amazing skill at crosswords the really hard ones and you teaching my children ‘Take Two’ which we played many times with you and have passed this on to many others. Your knowledge of literature, the arts, nature and history was second to none. I will miss you. Rest in peace!!! Sue S
Dear Aunt Joan
often saw you walking around Blandford with the shopping, always remember the fur coats!
Have a lovely sleep and it will be nice to catch up with your brothers and sisters.
Love Phillip & family
Nanna Joan, (You made sure it was Nanna & never nanny!) I will always remember our holidays to Ireland to visit you in your beautiful homes. The lovely house on the hill above the farm, where you taught us to play take two & we would go down to the town for the best Golly ice creams. The bungalow with beautiful views just up from the trout lake. You’d take us to all the lovley towns and get us to try crab sandwiches. Picking winkles to take home for grandad. Your lovely warm fur coats & hair pinned perfectly every time. You would roll your eyes when Grandad would say something you didn’t agree with. & then onto being Great Nanna Joan to my girls. We shall miss you. Rest easy little Nanna Joan xxx
To Joan, without you I wouldn’t have my Alex, for that I am eternally grateful. Rest in peace, David
So many fond memories of my time spent with you at Hythe during my school holidays.
Sleep peacefully Great Aunt Joan
Love, Jo & family
Nanna Joan,
Thank you for some wonderful memories as a child, we spent a lot of summer holidays learning amazing things from you and hearing stories from the past! You were an amazing lady and won’t be forgotten xxx
Dear Joan,
We first met many years ago at the annual Navel association Dinner. My husband and I remember what a pleasure it was to be introduced to such a wonderful lady. On occasion we met in town and if I asked you for yet another Bletchley story you were happy to share. Thank you for everything.
Rest in peace lovely lady.
Heartfelt condolences to your families and friends
I have lots of great memories with you, Grandmamama. You got me excited about colouring and painting books and I’ll never forget our many trips to the airfield with Mum, Dad and Oscar.
We miss you very much xxx
I always remember being very excited to come visit cause I always knew you’d have more planes to add to my ever growing collection and it was always a great time we spent up at the airfield.
And I enjoyed every single minute of those times. We all miss you very muchxxxx
Rest in peace
Many of you were aware of Joan’s Bletchley Park service – although for most of her life she kept it secret. We received this message from the Friends of Bletchley Park “On behalf of the Bletchley Park Trust may I send our heartfelt condolences on the sad passing of Joan Lever. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to those that worked at Bletchley Park and its outstations during World War Two and we hope our work at Bletchley Park will help share their important stories and the impact and legacy of the essential work that was done here for the future. Our thoughts are with you and all her family at this sad time.”
Joan, Crossword Queen and best step mum in the universe. How you managed to bring up and look after four troublemakers; keeping us on the the straight and narrow, I shall never know.
I remember that day when the whole family found out about your time at Bletchley Park. We were all sat on the settee watching The Secret War with William Woollard on the Beeb. You jumped up out the chair and said ‘I worked in that hut’…we were gobsmacked! I couldn’t believe you’d kept that secret for 30 years and that even Dad didn’t know!
I best remember your times in idyllic Goleen. You, Dad and Ben were so happy and healthy there. You getting excited about the next quality crab to prepare, which you would always do with absolute perfection.
Godspeed Joan and enjoy your walks in paradise with Dad, Ben and Sam. XXX
John, Louise, Lusa (and Pippin)
Dearest Joan,
I remember (with great fondness) first meeting you in Brussels more than 25 years ago…
We had great chats about Cork, about Ireland, about the Irish. You were wonderful with your stories. I used to think you were such an elegant lady with your hair piled high on your head and your lipstick…
You gave birth to one of my best friends in the world so I owe you a lot, Alex is like a sister to me. Whatever you did, it must have been right as she is one of the warmest, most welcoming and thoughtful people I know. Not to mentioned a fantastic hostess and cook! And with that she gave you 2 adorable grandchildren, Eleni and Oscar. You were so lucky to be blessed with a fantastic little family. Now it is time to rest!
And as we say in Ireland – Codladh go maith! ☘️
Aisling.
Dear Aunt Joan, such memories! The wonderful holiday you gave my mum and dad when Ann and I brought them over to Ireland to stay with you. They had such a fantastic time. Our time together at the monthly meetings of the Royal Naval Association in Blandford and your mumblings, under your breath, not so quiet as you thought, complaining at the ramblings of the Secretary – no names, no pack drill. The dreaded organising of the annual Trafalgar Night Dinner, sends shudders down my spine just thinking about it. Even at those events and in the presence of ‘Sirs’, Admirals and Captains I would always address you as ‘Aunt Joan’ – it was your rank, after all! Time spent with you and Alexia in Gillingham when I would have brought mum, dad and Phillip to see you. Catching the dinner plate in your kitchen, when it slipped from your hand and before it hit the floor – talk about lucky! Going to cut your privet hedge with an electric trimmer only to find that the local service shop had fitted the electrical connector incorrectly, turning the thing into a lethal (suicide) weapon. Boy, did I give them stick on your behalf! Your penchant for fur coats. My mum also had a taste for these but compared to you she was a mere novice. You are a legend, a tiny furry ball, but DYNAMITE! Now that you’ve hung up your spear for the final time, we may see the return of grizzly bears and woolly mammoths to the plains and heathlands of Dorset – they’ve been a nervous bunch of late. We loved and love you, Aunt Joan. Rest in peace.
Joan, what an amazing lady, mother of a lovely daughter, and grand mother. Dads long time partner and step mum to his children, nanny and great nanny to theirs.
You had led an amazing life, a bit of an Enigma if you will excuse the pun. One of the unsung heroes of Bletchley Park, your contribution to the war effort, with many others has now been well documented and gone down in history.
Dad’s partner for many, many years, you kept him on the straight and narrow and both of you led and eventful life in Hythe, St Mary’s Bay, Southern Ireland and Blandford Forum. The best times were in Ireland, where you made many good friends and became a welcome addition to the local community.
Last stop Blandford Forum, you made some good friends there, especially Jackie who became a godsend to you and Dad. Your active participation in the Naval Association must have kept you on your toes.
You have been a great part of our lives for many years to Sue, Kyle, Kayleigh, Ella, Maia and me. You leave many fond memories with us all, and will be greatly missed.
May you rest in peace.
Love Paul.
Joan, thanks for all the wonderful memories of Pat and yourself. Rest in peace.
From your friends in Co.Waterford, Ireland