Old Weather Forum

It is with great sadness that I announce the death of Joan Arthur, aka AvastMH. Joan died peacefully at 1:15 AM this morning after a short stay in hospital with cancer. Joan was a wonderful person: kind, loving and always full of good cheer. Besides her work on OW Whaling, she was the inventor of Shipopoly. She was featured in Andrew Marshall's article, Icebound, about Old Weather.

Loved Joan !!!

Wonderful, wonderful person.

She joined OW during the Royal Navy phase and played a big role in building this project into what it is today. Here is what she wrote about herself in Introduce yourself.

Joan's dedication, kindness and good humour here on Old Weather and on Penguin Watch endeared her to all.
We will miss her as a sister-volunteer, as a forum moderator, and as a dear friend.
Fair winds, Joan.

So sad to hear about Joan.
She was a wonderful person, so full of life.
The fact Joan opted for the hard Whaler logs shows a commitment to task.
(She even put up with me for a few days at her home.)

Rest in Peace Joan.

She told me you had helped her with several things while you were there.

I suspect that we are only starting to miss her

Such a dear, kind soul. We had never met and wrote on line personally only a couple times, but I felt as though she was a true friend. In these past couple years of staying close to home, she made my view of the world much larger and my life truly richer. My sincere condolences to all of you who knew her personally.
Most sincerely,
Morgan

Very sad news.
A lovely lady and great ambassador for Old Weather.

Click the image to listen to an interview Paula Goodale had with Joan back in July 2014.
The image is taken from a presentation about a year earlier.

It is really hard to imagine OldWeather without Joan. She's been the one I talk to the most here and a good friend a few years now.

Joan and I would get excited about the bits of people's lives we found in the whaling logbooks. We'd read books by and about whalers and talk about them like a two-woman book club. And she was always happy to remind everyone every year about the whaling museum's annual Moby Dick read-through.

Joan loved talking about the hedgehogs in her garden and how everyone decorated for the holidays. She took in her neighbor's cat when the neighbor died. She cared for people in her building during lockdown. She liked to say she was taking "hammock time" when she was taking a break but she didn't actually own a hammock. She saved up for years to remodel the kitchen in her flat and she just had it done. It is green and yellow. She had friends over in the spring for a belated Christmas because they hadn't been able to at the holidays. She was excited to have Christmas cake out of season. She made sure this spring to show me images of her neighborhood online so I could see the flowers in bloom. She managed to hold down a job wrangling an absent-minded professor's office while also running OldWeather Whaling and hanging out with all of us here. She always had something encouraging to say to me when I've felt really low.

I'm really, really going to miss her.

~April

I will miss Joan. We shared problems with our hips and I really enjoyed hearing about her hedgehogs and all the work she did on Penguin Watch as well as OW. How she found the time for all her interests I don't know but she was always so positive (except about hip replacement). Yet another OWer I shall miss. I know I will miss her comments on the forum as well as the PMs we sometimes shared. RIP Joan.

So sad to hear this news!
It's really hard to imagine OldWeather without her.

Rest in peace Joan

jil wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 4:56 pm Joan was always such great fun and we're definitely going to miss her.

Hanibal94 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 31, 2022 7:07 pm I will remember and miss Joan
She was amazing - so many interests, always so cheerful and fun to talk to or message with, and so encouraging when things weren't going well.

Requiescat in Pace, my dear friend and comrade.

Rest in peace, Joan.
Too sad, that we live in time, where 100%-cure for cancer still not invented.

From Andrew Marshall, who wrote the article Ice Bound.

I’m so upset by this news. I’m sorry for your loss – you must devastated – but also for everyone’s loss. The deaths of such dedicated, modest and spirited people diminish us all. I so enjoyed their company.

“Icebound” remains one of my favorite stories in a long career. It was also one of the favorite stories of Kari Howard, a cherished Reuters colleague who edited it. Kari died of cancer on Jan. 10.

Joan's sister, Helen, has provided these details for access to the webcast of Joan's funeral service and for making donations in her memory.

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My late sister Joan requested a very small attendance at her funeral by invitation only.
(Joan also specified a very big memorial service later on!)
However, the funeral will be live-streamed and then available to watch for 28 days.

Webcast details for the funeral service for Joan Arthur at 15:00 (London time) on Thursday 8th September:
Website: https://watch.obitus.com
Username: caco3068
Password: 895439

Joan requested that no flowers be sent, so her family and friends are recommending donations in Joan’s name to Smalls for All, https://www.smallsforall.org/get-involved/donate/

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Thank you for posting this, Caro

Thank you.

I came across this item on the Beeb and immediately thought of Joan. I could imagine her organising her area of Oxford ready for next year. She did love her hedgehogs so much

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-n ... e-63096303.

Oh, yes!!!

I remember Joan sending me articles about making safe paths for the hedgehogs and evening messages saying that she was going out to feed her hedgehogs.

Me, too.

Yantic 11th march 1881. St Johns NF
https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorag ... 7_0170.JPG
The remains of the late P.A. Paymaster George E. Baughman for transportation to the United States.

(No mention of him in the log to date)