Nancy Ann Jourdain

July 30, 1942 - February 5, 2020

Tribute NANCY ANN JOURDAIN July 30, 1942 – February 5, 2020 Nancy Ann Jourdain, 77, of Holyoke, passed away on Wednesday February 5, 2020 at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield. Born on July 30, 1942, at Providence Hospital, Holyoke, she was the eldest daughter of the late Albert and Beatrice Z. (Ruelle) Jourdain of Holyoke. Nancy was educated at St. Jerome and Sacred Heart Grammar Schools in Holyoke and was a Communicant of St. Jerome Catholic Church. She graduated from Sacred Heart High School in 1961 and joined the Sisters of Saint Joseph at Mont Marie, Holyoke. Following her time in the convent, she remained active in the Church, in the Sacred Heart Ladies Sodality and in the Choir. Nancy held various jobs, including as a live-in housekeeper in Hamilton-Wenham, Massachusetts, as a longtime waitress at Duncan Maclean’s Pastry Shop on High Street in Holyoke, as well as other employment. She also attended Holyoke Community College. Nancy had a remarkable memory and an extremely sharp intellect. She was the unofficial family historian, instantly able to name details of distant relatives and family friends of long ago. Her powers of perception enabled her to decipher the word puzzles on the television show “Wheel of Fortune” often when just one or two letters had been revealed. She was a thoughtful person who sent greeting cards to family and friends on birthdays and holidays, as well as decorating the house for each season. She was an avid BINGO player with her sisters. As a constant presence in the family home, Nancy was one of the anchors of family life there. A woman of deep religious devotion, Nancy was a faithful presence at Mass and trusted in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, with whom she now resides in glory. Nancy was preceded in death by her parents and grandparents, and younger sisters Judith Faye Jourdain (1980), and Sharon Gail Burns (2014), a brother-in-law, Paul McCallister (2019), many aunts, uncles, cousins and a niece. Nancy leaves behind three sisters, Beatrice McCallister of Clinton, Michigan; Katherine Jourdain of Holyoke; Ida Harris of Meadview, Arizona and her husband, Dale; two brothers, Richard Jourdain, of Holyoke and his wife, Jeanne; Peter Jourdain of Whitewater, Wisconsin and his wife, Carol; two aunts, Shirley (Ruelle) Quinty of Shirley, Massachusetts and Vivian (Ruelle) Raymond of Townsend, Massachusetts, numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and two great-great nieces. Visitation will be held on Monday, February 10, from 9 to 10 a.m. at Messier Funeral Home, 1944 Northampton Street, Holyoke, with Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m., in the Chapel of St. Jerome Catholic Church, 169 Hampden Street, Holyoke. Burial will follow at St. Jerome Cemetery, Holyoke. Memorial Gifts in Nancy’s memory may be made to the Salesian Missions, 2 Lefevre Lane, New Rochelle, NY 01801-5710, [email protected]   To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Nancy Ann Jourdain, please visit our floral store.