Joan Helen Fiore passed away on Jan. 9, 2017, at her residence in Mount Olive, Illinois.
Joan was a graduate of Asbury Park High School with the Class of 1948. She was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Mount Olive.
Joan was a long-distance operator and hostess in many restaurants. She was also very involved in Mount Olive Senior Citizens, a volunteer in the local community theater programs as a performer and director of the children’s programs.
Joan was an aspiring writer who leaves behind an unfinished historical novel based on the shipwreck of the vessel The New Era off of the New Jersey coast. She loved horseback riding and cruises with her husband Ben.
Joan is survived by her son, the Rev. Ben Jr. (Joanie) Fiore, of Mount Olive; a daughter, Jody Fiore (Kernahan) Buck of Holliston, Massachusetts; and her five grandchildren, Karolyn (Michael) Greenstreet of Portland, Maine, USMC PFC Thomas Fiore Buck, of San Francisco, California, and Joseph, Johanna and Sarah Fiore of Mount Olive.
She is preceded in death by her parents, John and Helen Flocken Lovell; husband, Benjamin John Fiore Sr.; and two sisters, Barbara McDonough and Patricia Lovell.
Services were arranged by Becker & Son Funeral Home.