Joan Byers

YOUNGSTOWN - Prayers will begin Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, at 9:15 a.m. at the Higgins-Reardon Funeral Homes, Boardman-Canfield Chapel, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial at 10 a.m. at St. Christine Church for Joan "Joanie" Toupin Byers, 85, who died early Saturday morning at Assumption Village Nursing Home.

Mrs. Byers was born Sept. 27, 1929, in Youngstown, a daughter of Louis J. and Anna Elizabeth Carney Joyce Toupin.

Her parents were founding members of St. Edward's Church, where she was a long-time parishioner. She attended St. Edward's School and graduated from Ursuline High School in 1948. Joanie graduated from St. Elizabeth Hospital School of Nursing in 1952. She worked a year and a half at St. Elizabeth's Hospital and was offered the position of head nurse at Cafaro Memorial Hospital.

After wedding her husband, "Ev," on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1954, the couple moved to Symerna, Tenn., where her husband was stationed with the USAF and went to work as the nursing supervisor for the base hospital. They later moved to Houston. Joanie went to work at Methodist Hospital, where she served as a unit director and nurse assistant to Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the widely-known surgeon and heart pump and transplant pioneer.

When the family returned to Youngstown on a vacation to see her mother, she was approached by Dr. Edmund Massullo and asked to use her expertise learned by working with DeBakey to train and establish a new Constant Care unit there, one of the first units of its kind in this part of the country. After four years, she started to grow her family, began working part-time, and spent many years at St. Mary's Nursing Home on the north side. Later, she went on to be the nurse director of numerous dispensaries in area steel mills, until their closing in the 1970s.

She went back to school at Youngstown State University to further her degree and was then hired to serve the position as RN and safety director for Goodwill Industries, and later as assistant director at the former East Side Medical Center. After trying her hand at Psych and Addiction nursing in numerous locations, she was hired to put together and direct the Adult Addiction Unit at Belmont Pines Hospital in Liberty Township. Later in her career, she resumed her geriatric work in various nursing homes. She continued to work as a DON at Beeghly Oaks Nursing Home, until deciding to work part-time, not retiring until 2006 when she was 76 years old.

Primarily due to her volunteer efforts in the community, the Byers family was honored as the Bicentennial Urban Family of the year at the Canfield Fair. She was active in numerous clubs and non- profit organizations over the years. She loved to garden and spent many of her twilight years working on her gardens at their home in Canfield.

In addition to her parents, Joanie was preceded in death by her husband, Everette "Ev," who passed away in July. Her eldest son, Brion, died in a tragic car accident in 1974, and she was preceded by numerous babies who died shortly after birth. Her only brother, William "Buzzy" died Dec. 24, 1942, in World War II. All of her sisters are deceased: Rita (Les) Wolfgang, Jane (Dick) Murphy, Eleanor (Russ) Bowden, and Lucile (Jerry) Taafe.

She leaves two sons, Brendan and Terry (Billie) Byers; two daughters, Joyce (Dennis) Dripps and Kelly (Michael) Koenig; six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Family and friends may call on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the funeral home.

The family would like to thank Dr. Ben Hayek and his staff and the entire staff at Assumption Village for their compassion and care shown to Joanie.

The family has requested that material tributes take the form of donations to the Alzheimer's Association, 3695 Boardman-Canfield Road, Canfield, OH 44406, or to Hospice of the Valley, 5190 Market St., Youngstown, OH 44512.

Visit www.higgins-reardon.com to send condolences.