Joan Gagnon Benz Presente!

A recent photo of my sister Joan while fighting cancer

One of MB and my recent visits to Iowa to see Joan and husband Jack

Joan on a visit to Maine some years ago

Joan helping me with the boundless squash we harvested in our garden

I have five sisters. Joan and I were very close. She always had a warm smile and a very kind heart. She was good to everyone and very generous to many people. She always treated everyone with respect.

During the last three years Joan has been dealing with cancer and on-again, off-again chemo treatments. For awhile she appeared to recover but recently learned the cancer had moved to her brain.

She married Jack Benz (for 55 years) while working in New York City in the late 1960's with an airline. They eventually moved to northwest Iowa where Jack's family owned a small family run farm-town bank. That part of the state is corn, soybeans and pig country. Joan opened a travel agency which allowed her to continue her love for travel.

For about 40 years Joan served as my travel agent as I too traveled around the world in my work against the militarization of space. Over time she also helped some Global Network members with their travel arrangements. She once told me I was her best customer but also the poorest one at that. Over the years she also organized a couple speaking events for me in her area with a peace group that she had contact with.

My mother was married three times and had kids with two of her husbands. Joan and I shared the same father which gave us a special bond. Our father was a chicken and turkey farmer in Maryland but early on our mom concluded she didn't like that life and got him to give up the farm which broke his heart. She soon chased him away from us. After that he was unmoored for much of the rest of his life. We lost all contact with him until we learned of his death in 1985. All those years without our father planted a sadness in our hearts that we shared in mostly private conversations throughout our days. 

Kenneth Edgar Gagnon 1916-1985

For many years Joan painted quite lovely works, likely inspired by her travels. She was a spiritual person and told stories to me about feeling intense spirits while in Egypt and in the Andes that deeply touched her soul.

One of Joan's many creations. She gave it to me during a recent visit with her. It hangs over my bed. 

She also loved gardening and was known to pinch flowers from empty homes on occasion. Once while visiting her in Iowa she took MB and me on a drive to a nearby farm road where she pointed out a patch of wild asparagus that we harvested and she freeze-dried for us to take home. 

A very recent harvest in her home garden. To the end she remained active.

At the end of August Joan collapsed at home and was rushed to the hospital - going about 10 minutes without breath. She was revived and moved to a bigger hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. I flew out to see her in the hospital along with three of my siblings and Joan's two grown children and one grandchild. When we arrived Joan was not conscious and had to have breathing assistance. After a couple days she was able to breathe on her own and began to awaken and speak a bit. I sang an Italian nursery song to her that our maternal grandfather Vincent DiCapua used to sing to us as youngsters. At one point Joan began to sing along with me. Her son Eric lit up like a Christmas tree seeing his beloved mother respond so clearly. It was a beautiful moment. One to cherish forever. 

After my return home our sister Karen (a retired nurse practitioner who remained at the hospital) reported that Joan was unable to take breath on her own again and was hooked back up to the automated system. Eric and his sister Allison returned to the hospital from California. She steadily declined after that and passed away in the early morning of August 30, 2025 with Eric by her side.

This is a great loss for those of us who loved Joan so much. She was a devoted mother and wife. A good friend to many. A dear sister to us all.

We lived in Germany two different times growing up when our Air Force step-father was stationed in that country. Joan and I called each other Bruder und Schwester (brother and sister) in our private conversations. We had our own sort of secret world we lived in at times.

I will greatly miss my Joanie-cabonie as I often called her. God bless her as she moves into the next dimension - one that she was long spiritually linked to. Save me a seat Joan in the other world.

I love you so much and will miss you dearly. 

Bruce