Obituaries

It is with saddened hearts that the family of Joanne Elizabeth Creelman (nee Jones) announce her sudden passing on January 17th, 2026, at the age of 90.

Daughter of the late Victor Edwin Jones and Ruth Klarissa (Duke) Jones of Ontario, Joanne was predeceased by her husband, Allen Earle Creelman of Dartmouth. She is survived by her son, Paul Thomas Kiré of Moncton New Brunswick; her daughter and son-in-law, Sharon (Creelman) and Chris Armstrong of Minneapolis, Minnesota; her grandchildren: Kate Armstrong (Wisconsin), Caleb Armstrong (Wisconsin), Grace Armstrong (New York), Ross Armstrong (Wisconsin), John Allen Armstrong (Illinois), and nephew and niece Doug and Karen Creelman (Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia) who helped care for her in her later years, as well as many other nieces and nephews.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Joanne grew up in various parts of Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Her father’s job required many moves and this, combined with being an only child, made her acutely aware of the importance of family and friends. She greatly valued her family ties and friendships over the years. She was so good at keeping in touch from a distance that she maintained several long distance friendships for decades and stayed in touch with family across the miles, including family in Ontario and, later, her grandchildren in the USA. Through the years, she visited often with extended family on the Creelman side and also kept in touch with family in Ontario.

As a child Joanne was an unrepentant tomboy, back in the days when girls were supposed to play nicely with dolls. She loved to play baseball, rollerskate and rough ride her bike with the boys in the neighborhood, much to her mother’s dismay, which yielded frequent scraped knees and trouble with her parents and teachers. Joanne was also a creative soul, interested in sewing and textile arts at an early age. She had her own sense of fashion, making a lot of her own clothes in her youth. As a young woman, she also enjoyed handicrafts, singing in choirs, playing the piano, classical music, dancing to big band music, and art.

After high school, Joanne was interested in occupational therapy and nursing and ultimately pursued a short career as an RN. She worked chiefly as a psychiatric nurse and later in labor and delivery, but she also explored other nursing specialties over the years. She later earned her BSN when nursing became an accredited university degree.

After marriage, Joanne settled in Nova Scotia and stayed in the same house for over forty years, never desiring to move again. She had two children and was always a supportive and nurturing mother. An excellent mother-her children’s best champion and cheerleader, she was always encouraging and loving. She later became “Gram” to five grandchildren who lived far away, and she loved them unconditionally just as she loved her children. She followed their lives and interests closely, despite the distance, and delighted in visits whenever she could.

Her grandchildren fondly remember the “Gram parcels” that arrived for every occasion, including birthdays, Christmas, Easter, and even Canada Day. Lovingly personalized for each grandchild, the parcels arrived regularly by mail along with thoughtfully clipped newspaper and magazine articles tailored to their childhood interests, even long after they’d outgrown those interests! During visits she had a special gift for making each child feel seen and encouraged, taking an interest in the smallest passions and encouraging all their endeavors, both small and later large. She ensured they all had opportunities to pursue their interests and supported their higher education. She will be remembered as a nurturing, attentive, and deeply loving grandmother.

Joanne had a wonderful sense of humor, inherited from her father, and tried to live life lightly. She always saw the positive side of things, gave people the benefit of the doubt, and especially loved joking around with friends and family. She was never dissuaded from what she wanted to do, blazing her own trails, pursuing her own interests, and living out of the box in ways that put her ahead of her time such as being a feminist before that was mainstream. She always worked at least part-time to have her own paycheck, bank account, and credit card as soon as that was legal in 1969. She valued her financial independence at a time when this was unusual for wives and mothers.

At the same time, she was a dedicated homemaker, keeping a warm, peaceful, and happy household for her family. She always loved putting on meals and brunches for family and friends, and for many years “did up” pickles, jams, jellies, and preserves of all kinds — there is hardly a vegetable or fruit that she did not pickle or turn into jam at least once. She was also ahead of her time in promoting healthy habits for her children, recognizing the importance of a good diet and physical activity for both physical and mental health and modelling this by remaining physically active well into her eighties.

She enjoyed many different kinds of fitness activities over the years, including biking, cross-country skiing, badminton, long walks in the park and neighborhood, and hikes on her woodlot properties with her husband and dogs. Swimming, in particular, was a lifelong love. After her nursing career, she turned her attention to part-time work as a swim coach and lifeguard and also started a recreational synchronized swim team, bringing her enjoyment of the water into both her work and her family life. She especially loved synchronized swimming and followed its evolution from Esther Williams in the 1940s to its debut as an Olympic sport in the 1980s, through to its more recent rebranding as “artistic swimming” in the 2010s. She made sure all her grandchildren learned to swim and recruited them as lap swimming buddies when they visited. She took every opportunity to get in the pool or hit the beach.

Joanne’s creative spirit, evident from an early age, continued to flourish throughout her life. Quilting was a long-time passion, and she took many art classes over the years. She loved to create and build things in many different genres, including jewelry, hand-drawn portraiture, photography, felt-making, and woodworking. Her grandchildren fondly remember the hand-painted board books and custom-made quilts she created and gifted to them throughout their lives.

In the course of obtaining her BSN, Joanne took art history classes and later pursued a fine arts degree at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a focus on fibers and textiles. After graduation, when asked what she did, she would proudly reply that she was a fiber artist. In her later years, she worked in a framing store, which she enjoyed as she was able to collaborate with many artists for gallery showings. Joanne had also taken piano lessons as a child and, in retirement, went back to lessons and most enjoyed playing Chopin. Grieg was also a favorite composer, and she even visited Grieg’s summerhouse museum on a trip to Norway. There was always music playing in her house, most often the CBC classical music station. She also volunteered over the years at art galleries and the Nova Scotia Museum and worked on art projects in the community.

Joanne loved her many pets over the years, pet budgies as a child, and several cats and dogs that were considered beloved family members and cared for so well. She loved nature, especially birds. She was a long-time supporter of the Canadian Wildlife Federation and enjoyed watching nature documentaries. She was a devoted backyard birder, faithfully keeping up her bird feeders and developing such a relationship with the neighborhood crows that she could call them to her yard. When apartment regulations prevented her from feeding birds on her patio in her later years, she simply trekked out to the property line each morning to set out food-and continue her steadfast support of the local birds.

Gardening was a passion she developed after marriage, first under the tutelage of her father-in-law, and later drawing from resources such as neighbors and library books. She kept vegetable and flower gardens everywhere she lived until she could no longer garden. At one time, she and her husband Allen had a huge vegetable garden on their property in Bayhead. When she moved into an apartment in her eighties, she was not dissuaded by the concrete patio; instead, she had a large garden box custom-built and filled with her favorite plants, along with many pots, turning it into a beautiful garden space that she tended until her health prevented her from continuing.

Joanne’s interests were never confined to her own backyard, though. Travelling was a retirement project that she took seriously, making at least ten international trips, including to Japan, Malaysia, Australia, England, Hong Kong, Norway, and many parts of the United States, and across Canada. She made a list of countries and places she wanted to visit and managed to knock off most of it before health issues prevented further travel. She occasionally took trips with grandchildren in tow, which she thoroughly enjoyed. By the time her eldest granddaughter graduated from college, she had already checked so many destinations off her travel list that they ended up traveling together to Easter Island, one of the most remote inhabited islands in the world! She kept extensive travel notes during her adventures and created photo albums after her trips, which she shared with friends and family.

Though she traveled far, she remained deeply engaged in her community. Joanne was a loyal supporter of Margaret’s House in Dartmouth and a strong advocate for people with mental illnesses. She was involved in her church as a young woman, teaching Sunday School. Later in life, she joined Port Wallace United Church under Rev. Ivan Gregan, growing her faith and contributing to the church life. At Port Wallace, she participated in many ways, but particularly enjoyed the crafting group, singing in the choir, and playing piano for services. She actively served her church and community for as long as her health allowed.

In her last years, Joanne lived at The Berkeley retirement residences in Dartmouth and Halifax. The family is forever grateful for the great loving care she received from staff at both facilities.

It is impossible to do a person’s life justice in such a small space. The above is only a sampling of Joanne’s life, well lived and full of love. Joanne in turn was fiercely loved by her family and will be greatly missed.