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The friends and family of Joan Tinkess are deeply saddened to announce her peaceful death on Thursday, August 31, in Windsor, Ontario. We have lost a woman of many loves and deep integrity who sought and achieved a purposeful life. A teacher, student, feminist, social justice advocate and practitioner, and delightful and funny friend, Joan was an inspiration and mentor to many. She had a genius for friendship – both human and animal – and maintained active connections to all those she met along her way. Always well informed, Joan was often reduced to tears in the face of everyday injustices but was never angry or despairing. A deeply spiritual woman, her love of music and poetry helped balance her willingness to learn about and engage with our troubled world.
Joan Eileen Tinkess was born on December 16, 1933 in Ottawa, Ontario, the loving daughter and second of six children of Eileen (née Mooney) and William Tinkess. At a young age, Joan determined that she would join the Grey Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Pembroke, Ontario with the purpose of serving in the Dominican Republic (DR). She joined the congregation straight out of high school, taught elementary school in Ottawa, made her final vows in 1956, and left for the DR in 1958.
Joan said she felt fully alive and purposeful in the Dominican Republic. Having struggled with French, she learned Spanish in a flash and quickly bonded with her students in Yamasà where she taught elementary school, was later chosen to be the first principal, and for the first year was the only teacher in the high school. The arrival of Mary Tiner, with whom Joan would share a life-long common path, set a new course. Together, they studied, attended workshops, and took to heart the teachings of Vatican II, which they recognized had the potential to revolutionize the relationship between the Catholic Church and Third World Countries (a new term at that time). Joan and Mary formulated the idea of connecting with communities in new ways. They would live among the people in local housing, travel by motorcycle as the local people did, and help local women fulfill their desires for better lives – that is, put the ideals of Vatican II into practice. In those early post-Vatican II days, their lofty goal of responding to the call to serve the poor by living simply, as the people lived, led them, in 1970, to leave their religious community.
Always self-aware and with clarity of purpose, Joan and Mary, made their way back to the DR in 1971, on their own terms, this time to Cutupú, a small rural community where they taught in local schools. Here, Joan’s abiding belief in women and collective empowerment was realized. In consultation with local women, Joan and Mary led workshops that encouraged the women to speak out about their daily challenges, organize and participate in meetings, and take up leadership positions in their associations. The practical outcome of these efforts was the formation of the Federaçion Campesina Juana y Maria, a federation of over 800 women in 30 member associations. In time, the women learned how to manage a plan of self-funded micro loans, which they faithfully repaid month by month. These small amounts of money, which were carefully superintended by women chosen by the group, enabled women to pay for their children’s education and purchase items that made their lives, and the lives of their families, more productive and more comfortable. The details of these ten years are recounted by Joan in her memoir, No Turning Back, which she self-published with the help of many friends in 2016.
Joan returned to Canada in 1980 where she completed her undergraduate degree in religious studies at the University of Windsor, then taught world religions and social justice courses at Assumption High School until her retirement in 1994. In Windsor, she engaged in a wide range of women- and animal-centred activities including Gaia Singers, Women in Black, retired teacher lunches, social justice book clubs, and animal care and protection. Her other passions included the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, wood carving, and a commitment to Unitarian Universalist teachings.
In July of this year, Joan and Mary returned to the Dominican Republic one last time where they both received presidential medals of honour from the president of the republic for their decades of work. Afterwards, away from the capital city, Joan and Mary were celebrated by the hundreds of women and children (now adults with their own children and grandchildren) whose lives have been improved by the initiatives they nurtured in the 1970s – initiatives that are going strong today. Indeed, the importance of the ground-up, women- and community-led model of social and economic development to which Joan and Mary were committed is now widely recognized as the essential first step for long-lasting community change. However, it was another twenty years before the world officially learned – from male economists – of the development potential of micro lending.
At the end of her life, Joan spent three weeks in The Hospice of Windsor and Es County on Empress Street, where the atmosphere of peace and loving care sustained her reflective state of mind. During this time, she welcomed many visitors from near and far, in person and by telephone, whom she had met in pursuit of her many passions. Joan remained mindful and focused until the end. She held hands and reminisced with her visitors, recounted their shared commitments and activities, often adding details of mutual experiences her visitors had forgotten. Joan was comforted by visitors who read favourite poems and short stories, listened to music with her and sang beloved songs. Joan described this journey as making her soul.
One of Joan’s last requests was Simon and Garfunkel’s Sound of Silence, which warns of the emptiness that ensues when we fail to speak and do not listen to each other. Joan reminds us all to reject fear and always speak up against injustice.
Joan is survived by Mary Tiner, her sister Sylvia Wolff, brother Brian, sister-in-law Arlie Tinkess, goddaughter Melissa, members of her extended family, and her many grieving friends and former students.
A celebration of her life will be held at Anderson Funeral Home at 895 Ouellette Avenue on Saturday, October 28, 2023 at 12:00 noon.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Wings Wildlife and Rehabilitation Centre, The Humane Society of Windsor and Es County, The Hospice of Windsor and Es County, or The Welcome Centre.
2023
Death notice for the town of: Windsor, Province: Ontario
death notice Joan Eileen Tinkess 2023
obituaries notice Joan Eileen Tinkess 2023
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Joan Eileen Tinkess 2023 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
