On July 27, 2025, Joan M. Henault, of Bedford, Massachusetts, passed away unexpectedly while visiting a relative on Long Island, NY. She was 82 years old.

Joan was born on December 20, 1942 in Arlington, Massachusetts to the late Robert and Lillian (Johnson) O’Neill. She graduated from Arlington High School in 1960 and attended nurse’s training at Boston City Hospital. Joan lived much of her adult life in Bedford, where she and her first husband, Eric R. Humphrey, raised their two daughters. Joan married Kenneth P. Henault in 1981, and moved to Nashua, NH in 1983, where she lived until she returned to Bedford in 2010 to live with her daughter.

Joan loved to travel, having visited such diverse locations as Hawaii, Arizona, Tennessee, Canada, Ireland, and Florida, where she spent several weeks every winter. She was outgoing and enjoyed getting together with friends on a regular basis to share a meal or play cards. Joan’s hobbies included reading, crochet and other crafts. She loved animals and had cats and dogs her whole life.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth P. Henault, her son Eric Andrew Humphrey, and her brothers, Robert O’Neill and Richard (Donald) O’Neill.

She is survived by her daughter Linda Humphrey and son-in-law Thomas Walsh of Cumberland, RI, her daughter Karen Humphrey-Johnson and son-in-law Derek Johnson of Bedford, MA, and her grandchildren Dillon, Thomas and Katie Walsh and Isabelle Johnson. She also leaves her stepson Ken Henault and his wife Kathy of Hampton, NH and Dunedin, FL, their children Andrew and Sarah, and her stepson Chuck Henault and his wife Sonja of Winston-Salem, NC, and their daughter Ashli.

Visiting hours will be held in Shawsheen Funeral Home on Monday August 4, 2025 4pm to 7pm and a Funeral Service will be held in the Funeral Home on Tuesday August 5, 2025 at 11am. Family and friends invited. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Lowell Humane Society at lowellhumanesociety.org or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, at give.cff.org.