Joan M. Kenneally

Joan M. (Doherty) Kenneally, age 94, of Groton, formerly of Chatham and Concord, passed away comfortably at home on April 15, 2026. She was the loving wife and sometime reluctant birdwatching companion for 57 years of the late Dr. Joseph F. Kenneally, Jr., a longtime Concord-based oral surgeon, who died in 2016.

Born March 3, 1932, Joan was the daughter of John and Edna (Cole) Doherty. A proud Massachusetts South Shore native with an accent to prove her Abington, MA roots, Joan graduated from Abington High School (AHS) with honors and then earned her undergraduate degree in Education from Bridgewater State University. During Joan’s high school and college tenures, she fully immersed herself in a vast number of clubs and activities. Glee and drama clubs, costume design and production management showcased her exceptional skills as a seamstress, cake decorator, organizer and general “person who got things done.” Be it professional and/or community activities, Joan did it all with her meticulous attention to detail and precision. But, of all her activities, the one her children loved to remind her of the most was her time as the drum majorette for the AHS band. Always the leader, Joan kept her band of kids and husband in step at all times…or they heard about it.

After six years of teaching third-grade, Joan dedicated herself as a homemaker and mother. She cleaned her own house, instructed her kids in militaristic bedmaking techniques and ensured everybody had a hot meal. Another cherished memory was the absurd number of her children’s friends piloting in the Kenneally’s litany of shambling four-wheel drive vehicles or overly small compact cars of suspect automotive health and road worthiness. Joan believed all kids should be involved in activities and she was going to make sure they got to where they needed to be. Joan’s catholic faith was her core; hence she was an active parishioner at Our Lady Help of Christians Church in West Concord, followed by Holy Redeemer Parish in Chatham.

A lifelong and avid seamstress, Joan could do anything with her needle. Joan put her love for sewing into creating first communion, prom and concert dresses for her daughters, communion and wedding headpieces and veils, Halloween costumes, including a perfectly pleated Britney Spears school girl skirt for her son-in-law, Paul, which is legend in family lore. When Concord-Carlisle Highschool decided to change its band uniforms in 1979, Joan jumped in full throttle, effectively making/remaking the uniform “carnage” that emerged when 150 kids were handed fabric, buttons, feathers, etc. and charged with “you need to make your own uniforms.” Her role as “the seamstress for the band” continued when she observed tattered color guard flags while watching Joe and Heather perform with the UMass Marching Band. Joan stepped in right away – she demanded the flags be handed over immediately. As usual, Joan delivered by the next game; the flags were perfect. Today, those same flags are still proudly used in UMass routines.

Of all Joan’s passions, however, quilting reigned supreme. It was a perfect artform for her love of color, intricate stitching, and storytelling. As a member of the New England Quilters Guild, Concord Piecemakers, and later, the Bayberry Quilters of Cape Cod, Joan was on the constant quest for new patterns and fabrics, creating unique pieces for her children, grandchildren, friends, and students. She generously donated quilts to various local charities and taught Adult Education quilting classes in Concord for decades.

Even after moving to the Cape in 1997, Joan continued to teach at CCHS and Harvey Wheeler for as long as she could. Today, Joan’s legacy as one of Concord’s premiere quilters is on public display. In 1988, Joan coordinated the efforts of fifty volunteers to produce the Children’s Art Quilt, which can be viewed in all its glory in the side foyer of the Concord Public Library. The blocks of this quilt were signed and/or illustrated by acclaimed children’s authors including Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Peggy Parish, Robert McCloskey, and other luminaries of children’s literature. We encourage all who visit the library to view this now priceless work of American art.

Joan is survived by her children, Mary Ellen Kenneally of Groton, Maura (Kenneally) Clark and her husband Paul of Concord, Joseph F. Kenneally, III of Sanford, ME, and Heather Ann Kenneally and her husband, Ronald Bargantine of Barrington, RI, her grandchildren, Thomas, Benjamin, Charles, and Faith Marie. Joan also leaves behind Saggy Maggie, the beloved oversized galumph of a cat to whom she fed many treats with the hope of keeping her off the kitchen counter. Special love and blessings go out to Joan’s devoted roster of caretakers who cared for Joan as if she were their own mother.

Family and friends will gather for visiting hours at Dee Funeral Home, 27 Bedford Street, Concord Center on Friday, May 1st from 5 to 8 pm. Joan’s funeral will be held on Saturday, May 2nd at 8:30 am from the Dee Funeral Home, followed by a Funeral Mass at 9:30 am in St. Bernard’s Church at Holy Family Parish, 12 Monument Square, Concord Center. Burial will follow at St. Bernard’s Cemetery, Concord.  To view the church live stream, please click here.  

Contributions in Joan’s memory may be made in honor of her sister, Madeline, via the Madeline Gustafson Endowed Scholarship Fund, St. Anselm College, the Dr. Joseph Francis Kenneally Jr., DMD, Endowed Scholarship Fund, Stonehill College, or the New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord.