JACKSONVILLE  -  Joan Bader, 90, put up a courageous multiyear battle with hydrocephalus but succumbed to the disease on February 28, 2025. Funeral Mass will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Infant of Prague Catholic Church in Jacksonville, NC.

Joan was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, on May 18, 1934. She was the only daughter of Thomas and Margaret Burke, but she had three brothers, all of whom who predeceased her. She graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1951, before graduating from the University of Louisville in 1955. She worked as a medical technician, and the doctors for whom she worked as well as her patients adored her.

In 1958 she married the love of her life, Allen Bader, a career naval officer. Throughout, she excelled at the hardest job in the Navy -- being a Navy wife -- moving 10 times, including 4 times from coast to coast, as well as Canada, always providing strong support to her husband. She had 4 daughters -- Carol, Laura, Donna, and Alice -- all of whom survive her, as well as 6 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild. Her daughters take after their mother in charm, grace, common sense, and caring for other people.

She loved to sew and knit and volunteered at the hospital gift shop for many years. Throughout her daughters' school years, she volunteered as a room mother, with the PTA, and could always be counted on to bake cookies. She was deeply religious and was an active member of Infant of Prague church in Jacksonville, NC.

She is, and will be, sorely missed. The world is a poorer place with her loss. May God bless her.