Joan Marie Pagano

Joan Marie Pagano, 94, of Berwyn Heights, Maryland passed away Saturday, February 22, 2025, at her home. 

Joan was born May 11, 1930 to Lloyd and Eva (Svatos) Dierks. She grew up in Armour, SD and graduated high school there in 1948. After earning her RN from Presentation School of Nursing – St. Joseph’s Campus in Mitchell, SD, she joined the U.S. Air Force in 1952 and served until 1954. Her plans to become a flight nurse changed when she met USAF Captain Joseph M. Pagano and they married in San Pedro, California on September 10, 1952. She listed these sights/experiences as among her most memorable: Taps at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, the Berlin Wall, White Cliffs of Dover, and the rolling plains of South Dakota. In addition to wife, mother, nurse, grandmother and great grandmother, she was an amazing seamstress, needleworker, gardener, political campaigner, quilter, knitter and sustained prayer. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Joseph (2006), three brothers, Murry (1935), Lowell (2008), and Robert (2001), and two sisters, Marjorie (1939) and Margene Kimmen (2018). 

Joan is survived by her children Valerie Stewart, Mary Jo (Stacey) Hirata, Anne, Joseph (Cricket), and Eva Pagano, and Paula (Scott) Hummer; five grandchildren and five great grandchildren. 

A Requiem Mass will be held February 28 at 11:00 am, St Hilary's Chapel, 3823 2nd Street, Baltimore, MD 21225, preceded by Rosary at 10:30 am. Interment will be at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.