Joan Patricia (Drasdis) Mears

At a young 70 years of age, Joan Patricia (Drasdis) Mears, passed away Saturday, April 22, 2023, peacefully at her home on Bull Lake in Troy, Montana.

It left a cavernous hole in the soul of our community. She left her wide circle of loving friends that stretch from Montana, to her native Connecticut where she was born, to her beloved Florida.

Joan was born on May 16, 1952, in Hartford, Connecticut, to Albert Don and Anna (Repsis) Drasdis, with Lithuanian roots.

In 1970, she graduated high school from Conard High in West Hartford, Connecticut. Out of high school she worked at Aetna Life and Casualty and then in 1975, she left to train at Norwich Beauty Academy for cosmetology. Joan worked in a salon in the Sheraton Hotel lobby, and in 1982 moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and eventually became owner and operator of her own salon at the Marriot Hotel in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

She also cut and styled hair in various nursing homes catering to assisted living and convalescent clients giving love and care to the elderly.

In 2004, Joan moved to Troy, Montana where she obtained her Montana cosmetology license and continued doing freelance hair for clients and also trained to become a home healthcare aide.

Joan loved watching professional golf and volunteered to work at Pro Golf Association tournaments in her Florida years. Tiger Woods was one of her favorites. She also loved horses, racing, the New England Patriots, the Miami Dolphins and most especially swimming in the ocean.

Joan had many dogs in her lifetime and of course anyone that knew her well would agree that there wasn’t a dog she wouldn’t stop to cross the street to meet. Many in our community are grateful for the love and care she gave to their animals as she was known as a professional “dogsitter” for friends on vacation.

Joan left us with some beautiful paintings, a hobby she took up in the last few years that she came to enjoy.

Everyone loved Joan. Everyone. But however much we loved her, she would always love us back even more. During Joan’s life, she would give and receive unconditional love with grace. In her last weeks, Joan had some good laughs, and she smiled many times with her twinkling eyes and an expression of the divine. She told us not to wait for adventure, but to go find it, and find it we shall!

When she was diagnosed, Joan surrounded herself with a small group of friends we like to call “Team Joan.”

We all played our part and loved on her and helped usher her from this life into eternity with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We will be forever grateful to the professional staff of hospice nurses and her special one-on-one caregiver, Haley. While cancer may have taken Joan, it sure didn’t beat her. Her love didn’t stop because she left this earth, it remains with us leaving a deep imprint on our lives and in our hearts.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents Albert and Anna Drasdis; brother Robert Drasdis of Bull Lake, Montana; and sister Susan Gottier of East Hartford, Connecticut.

Joan is survived by her brother Richard Drasdis of San Marco, Florida.

There will be a Celebration of Life at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5 at her home - 20055 Bull Lake Road, Troy, MT 59935.

All are welcome to share the love, grace and gratitude that this remarkable, funny and witty woman gave each of us during her life. In her honor and name, please consider giving to your local animal rescue shelter.

Arrangements are under the care of the Schnackenberg Funeral Home of Libby.

Online condolences and memories may be shared by visiting www.schnackenbergfh.com.