Memorial Trees
A
Anonymous
July 08, 2025
L
Louise Pratt
July 06, 2025
A
Anonymous
July 02, 2025
Memorial trees planted for:
Joan Mary Auclair
<p>Joan Mary Auclair, 64, of Harwinton, CT, passed away Saturday, June 28th, 2025 after an extended illness. She lived with her dedicated husband, Rick, who stayed by her side and cared for her until her death.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan was born in Newark, New Jersey to parents Randolph and Mary Auclair, but lived mostly in New York City, New Hartford, CT, and Harwinton, CT. She was a 1978 graduate of Northwestern Regional #7 and a 1982 graduate of Brown University.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan was passionate about art and gravitated to a career in illustration and graphic design. She illustrated Big Talk, The Dancer, and The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. Joan produced countless newsletters, brochures, posters, and signs–all with grammatical precision and clarity–for Bank Street College, the Bakerville Library, the Northwestern Band, Electric Motion Company, Camp Brodie, and basically anyone else who needed good layout and good sentences. Her business card asked, “Need help spelling hors d’oeuvres?” She always made little cartoon sketches of the people and cats around her, especially in the margins of important documents.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan was famous for her lighthearted outlook on much of life. She designed beer can labels featuring partying sheep, comically photoshopped Christmas cards, and painted Christmas baubles on her post-chemo head.</p><p><br></p><p>A lifelong passion for cooking and baking inspired Joan to begin baking sourdough bread and open Orchard Hill Baking in Riverton, CT in April of 2020. She made classic treats like molasses crinkles, snickerdoodles, and brown butter brownies with Tchaikovsky and Bizet playing in the background.</p><p><br></p><p>Joan created welcoming spaces that people wanted to be in. She organized the weekly community ping-pong at the Bakerville Library and made sure to say “hi” to everyone when they walked in. She painted faces at community events like New Hartford Day and the Bakerville Marketplace. She made sure you got–and applied–the temporary tattoo featuring that year’s Bakerville Library raffle car.</p><p><br></p><p>She loved having a cat sit on her lap while she read a book; this usually devolved into a communal nap. She called kids and pets “Madam” and “Mister.” She had fond memories of the “Easy Pedalers” Bakerville Church biking trips. She liked eating ice cream from a mug. She would beat you at Scrabble, Boggle, and Words with Friends. We did a lot of laughing at the dinner table until we cried. Joan (and then, Grandma Joan) read books aloud with inflection, suspense, and expressive voices to her kids and grandkids and any other kids that would listen. It reminds us of how her mother read aloud, too. We will think of her when we read the Little House on the Prairie books, watch a Jimmy Stewart movie, hear songs from Once Upon a Mattress, or get cat food at Price Chopper.</p><p><br></p><p>She is survived by her husband, Richard Goulet; her children, Eli Roberts (Lauren Kaplan), of Pine Plains, NY and Nell Roberts of New Hartford; her father, Randolph Auclair (Shusho Otsuki Auclair), of New Hartford; her uncle, Silas Kinsey, of Canterbury; her brother, James Auclair, of Millbury, MA; her sister, Paulina Auclair, of New Hartford; five grandchildren: Caden, Madison, Riley, Jude, and Matthew; many aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins; her dog, Carl; and her cat, Lola.</p><p><br></p><p>She is predeceased by her mother, Mary K. Auclair, and aunt, Clarice (Clare) Bair.</p><p><br></p><p>Her family would like to thank the friends who visited Joan to keep her spirits up during her illness, often bringing meals or other good distractions. Calling hours will be held at Montano-Shea Funeral Home, 922 Main Street, Winsted, on Monday, July 7, from 5-8 pm; a funeral will be held at Bakerville Church, 1087 Litchfield Tpke, New Hartford, on Tuesday, July 8 at 10:00. Please join the family in a celebration of Joan’s life on Sunday, July 27, at Norbrook Farm Brewery, Colebrook, CT, at 12:00 pm.</p><p><br></p><p>In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Bakerville Library, 6 Maple Hollow Rd., New Hartford, CT 06057.</p><p><br></p>June 28, 202506/28/2025
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