Joan Ann Williams Marshall, who lived in Truro, died at her home in Melbourne Beach, Fla. on Feb. 19, 2025 of ovarian cancer. She had turned 90 five days before. With her husband, John, she refurbished and operated Brownies Cabins in Wellfleet for 30 years.
“She was a strong, remarkable woman,” said her brother-in-law Alexander Marshall.
The daughter of Russell and Anne Williams, Joan was born on Valentine’s Day in 1935 in Weymouth, where she grew up with her younger brothers Raymond and Roger. Alexander said that her father worked with his hands but had “a love of literature and of words,” qualities he passed down to his daughter.
With her cousins, Joan was an active Rainbow Girl. She was also a member of the Dudley Street Baptist Church and the head cheerleader at Weymouth High School. She graduated in 1952 and attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine.
At Colby, Joan met John Calder Marshall of Newton, a star tennis player who won Maine state championships in both singles and doubles. Joan was a literature student.
Joan graduated in 1956 and married John in 1958. The athlete and poet stayed together for life.
They settled in West Springfield, where they raised their children, John and Jane.
Joan began a career as an English teacher and shared her love of language with her students for many years. “She could recite poetry for 30 or 40 minutes nonstop,” Alexander said. “She just loved words and books.”
In addition to teaching English, Joan worked as a women’s fitness instructor at the YMCA until her retirement, when she and John moved to the Outer Cape.
Brownies Cabins were in a state of disrepair and needed restoration, and John and Joan jumped at the chance to buy them in 1971. “They resurrected the colony,” said Alexander. “John did the renovations himself, from plumbing to roofing.” Joan was the face of the cottage colony for 30 years, greeting guests summer after summer until the cottages were eventually turned into condominiums and sold off. “Some of the new owners remember Joan fondly to this day,” Alexander said.
After those many seasons in Wellfleet, Joan and John began to spend summers in Truro and winters in Melbourne Beach, Fla. She volunteered at the AIM Thrift Shop and the Truro Historical Society, and she was an active member of St. Mary of the Harbor in Provincetown and St. James the Fisherman in Wellfleet.
Joan’s friends and family remember her animated storytelling, can-do attitude, and inspiring energy. She was a devoted life partner whose spirited voice lives on in her grandchildren, who delighted in imitating her distinctive South Boston accent.
Joan believed in a divine presence on Earth. She made friends wherever she went and was kind to everyone.
She is survived by her husband, John Marshall of Melbourne Beach, Fla.; her son, John Marshall, and wife Susan of McLean, Va., and daughter, Jane, and husband Tom McConnell of Philadelphia; her grandchildren, Ryan, Tristan, and Camryn McConnell of Philadelphia, Jake Marshall of McLean, Va., and Madeline Marshall of Washington, D.C., and their mother, Meredith Marshall of McLean, Va.; her brother, Roger Williams, and wife Jean of Chatham; her sister-in-law, Janet Williams, of New Hampshire; her brother-in-law, Alexander Marshall, and wife Anne of Truro; and many nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will take place on Saturday, June 28, 2025, at St. Mary of the Harbor Episcopal Church in Provincetown.
Donations in Joan’s memory can be made to the Chapel by the Sea Vacation Bible School in Melbourne, Fla. or St. Mary of the Harbor in Provincetown.
