Joan Marie Plummer passed away peacefully at the Brookdale Attleboro Senior Living Community in Attleboro, Massachusetts on April 21, 2023. She was 92 years old.

Joan was a former greeting card designer, elementary school art teacher, and an accomplished watercolorist. She graduated from Vesper George School of Art, in Boston, and then, returning to school many years later, the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, where she majored in art and graduated summa cum laude. She was the recipient of many national awards, and she became a member of numerous prestigious art organizations including a signature member of the American Watercolor Society and the New England Watercolor, among others. She also traveled the world with her husband Carlton of 67 years, and together they operated a gallery in Boothbay Harbor, Maine for more than 50 years.

Joan put aside her career in art for 20 years so that she could dedicate herself to raising a family, which eventually grew to include four boys. She was completely devoted to her family, a staunch advocate for whatever they needed, and a patient and caring listener, especially as her children grew to have families of their own and often reached out to her for an understanding ear. She had a dry sense of humor which she passed along to her four boys. She also possessed incredible determination, which she showed in her return to school after 20 years, finishing a four-year degree in just three years while graduating with highest honors. Showing strength of spirit and remarkable perseverance, she launched a painting career later in life and eventually became a jury-selected member— at age 76—of the highly competitive American Watercolor Society.

Joan loved gardening. Her gardens gave her periods of peace and solitude and they were another outlet for her artistic expression. Exquisitely designed, like a living version of her paintings, her gardens were a regular stop on the garden tours of Boothbay Harbor. They were also featured in a story in Maine Home and Design called "Garden by the Sea."

Joan is survived by her four sons and their families: Barry Plummer and Denise Flores, Kevin Plummer and Sarah Dinklage, Bruce and Betsy Plummer, and Gerry and Nancy Plummer. She is also survived by ten grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, Kathryn Philippi, her husband Nick Philippi and their daughters Charlotte and Ellie, Joshua Plummer and his wife Charlotte Barker, Shannon Plummer, Ben Plummer and his wife Sarah Plummer, Gabe Plummer and his husband Wyatt Delomba, Rachel Plummer, Nicole Plummer and her sons Noah and Luke, Matthew Plummer, Jason Plummer his wife Amanda Plummer, and their son Colin, and Tim Plummer.

Joan will be missed greatly and remembered reverently by her family and friends for the way she inspired others with her resilience, her strength of spirit, her creativity, and her devotion to her family.

For anyone who wishes to make a donation in her honor, it can be sent to the Boothbay Region Land Trust in Boothbay, Maine.