TENANTS HARBOR —  Joyann Samson, 71, passed away peacefully at the Sussman House in Rockport on November 17, 2018 with her family by her side. She will be remembered by family and friends for the many adventures they shared as well as her love of life, artistic flair, intellect, and quick wit.

Despite her battle with cancer for over a year, she never lost her spontaneous sense of humor, her compassion for others, and her loving personality.

Joy was born in Waltham, Massachusetts on April 10, 1947 to Rev. Carl A. Bergquist and Geraldine E. (Anderson) Bergquist.

She was educated in the Waltham Public Schools and graduated with honors from Bangor High School in 1965. The Zonta Club of Bangor Scholarship was awarded to her upon graduation. She attended the University of Maine in Orono, graduating with honors, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and earned a Master of Science degree from Boston University.  

She worked as a nurse in the Emergency Department and Medical Surgical Department of Maine Medical Center, and then joined the nursing faculty of the University of Southern Maine.

Joy and her husband, Jeffrey Samson, moved to Westhampton, Massachusetts in 1988, where Joy became Director of Education and Staff Development at Holyoke Hospital, training countless future nurses.

After retiring in 2006, Joy and her husband moved back to Maine where she loved to spend her time using her talents to create beautiful gardens, landscaped with stone and ornamental trees. In addition to gardening, Joy was a talented artist and musician, singing in many musical groups--most recently with Down East Singers and the choir at Nativity Lutheran Church.

She enjoyed traveling to Europe, the Caribbean, and across the United States, and loved spending time with her four grandchildren. She volunteered with Nativity Lutheran Church and provided a social hour to residents at the Knox Center for Long Term Care, and she traveled to Honduras to help build a church and provided medical assistance to local residents.

Surviving are her husband of 32 years, Jeffrey Samson of Tenants Harbor, her daughter Heidi Henderson and her husband Francisco Smith of Brooklyn, NY; son Nathan Henderson and his wife Angela Gospodarek of Gorham; one granddaughter Maya Joy Smith; three grandsons Reed, Graham and Finn Henderson; her twin sister Judith Pelletier and her husband Richard of Tenants Harbor; brother Carl Bergquist, Jr. and his wife Donna of Woolwich; brothers, David Bergquist and his wife Loreen Frost of Hermon and Paul Bergquist of Barre, MA; as well as many cherished nieces nephews and cousins.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Nativity Lutheran Church in Rockport, Maine on Saturday, November 24, at 11:00 AM.  In lieu of flowers, those who wish to remember Joyann may make gifts in her memory to the American Cancer Society, One Main Street, Suite 300, Topsham, ME 04086, or the Nativity Lutheran Church, 179 Old County Road, Rockport, ME 0485.