Ms. Joanne Mary Martin, B.A., M.Ed. (Adult – DHR), passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 27, 2021 at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, in Chatham, at the age of 71.

Joanne was born in Chatham to her late loving parents Bill and Mary (Gilhuly) Martin. She was beloved wife of Yiming Tang for 32 years, loving sister of Kathy (Ken) Sims, Gord (Linda) Martin, Marjorie (Rick) Smith, Mary (Bob) Charron, Bill (Jennifer) Martin, Jim Martin and Pat (Lorrie) Martin; cherished daughter-in-law of an extensive family in China; and loving, supporting and inspiring aunt to her many nieces and nephews.

Joanne was a woman of beauty, elegance and grace, fiercely independent, generous and with a heart of gold. She lived her life as a heroic journey, with insatiable desire for education and spiritual development. She was a fierce fighter for social justice, and a tireless advocate for progressive social policies. Her love of literature, culture and art, and her quest for exploring, experiencing and learning, had taken her to many corners of the world.

As coordinator at the Faculty of Cooperative Education of University of Waterloo during 1986-1997, Joanne passionately assisted numerous students to successfully navigated through their initial career development. As counsellor at the Life-Line Program in NSW Australia during 2000s, Joanne whole-heartedly helped many individuals to safely travelled through their personal journeys. Retiring back in Chatham, Joanne had made significant efforts centred around community-care, including crisis counselling, victim-services, designing/delivering programs for dementia patients in long-term care facilities, and protecting local environment, to name just a few.

Joanne left ripples of positive energy vibrating across the universe that would continue to make countless lives, and the world a better place for her having been here.

The late Joanne Martin rested at the Eric F. Nicholls Funeral Home Ltd. 639 Elgin St., Wallaceburg. Following her wishes, cremation will take place.

As an expression of sympathy, donations to the Chatham-Kent Hospice may be left at the funeral home.

Online condolences may be left at www.ericfnichollsfuneralhome.com