Joan V. Mason

Joan Viola Mason, of Sandisfield, MA passed peacefully at home with family by her side on July 14, 2026 at the age of 90.

Born in Hempstead, NY in 1936 to Charles Howard and Millicent (Driscoll) Meier, she grew up in Lynbrook, graduating from Lynbrook High School in 1953. She went on to study Home Economics at the University of Vermont, graduating with her Bachelor of Science degree in 1957. While at “UVM”, she was a proud member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority, and remained a life long supporter.

Joan married David Michael Mason in 1963, and they were happily married for 48 years until his passing in 2011.

Joan taught home economics at Valley Stream South High School on Long Island, eventually stepping away to caringly raise her daughter Debbie, which she viewed as her life’s work and one of her greatest accomplishments.

As a young girl, Joan and the Meier family spent weekends and summers in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, where she fell in love with the Sandisfield area’s natural beauty and serenity. Joan and Dave eventually purchased property from her grandmother, and in the 1960s they built a home that would be their sanctuary “Honey Hill Acres”. It was just up the road from the house where Joan had so many fond memories as a child. The family spent years visiting their treasured mountain retreat on weekends and summers, where they enjoyed hosting family and friends. Upon retirement in 2003, they moved from Long Island to live full time in Sandisfield.

Throughout her life, Joan enjoyed a wide range of hobbies, including cooking elaborate recipes she found in magazines, sewing clothes for her grandchildren on her treasured Singer sewing machine, and keeping the various birds around her home (and other wild life, as it turns out) very well fed with her many bird feeders.

Aside from the years Joan spent in her beloved Berkshires, perhaps her greatest joy was her role as “Nana” to her two grandchildren, Renee and Avery Levin. She traveled many times out to California to spend time with them as they grew up. She particularly enjoyed her time with the kids on-board Aaron’s and Deb’s boat at California’s Catalina Island and Newport Harbor, and joining them on family vacations to Florida’s North Captiva Island, Orlando’s Disney World, Washington DC, Boston, Buffalo, San Francisco, and New York City. When Renee & Avery moved to the east coast after college to start their careers in New York City, they would frequently make the trek to spend quality time with their Nana. Whether hosting her grandkids or daughter and son-in-law, Joan didn’t spend many holidays alone. She relished the opportunity to have family cooked recipes together, turn simple grocery shopping trips in Great Barrington into multi-hour affairs, go out for Chinese food at Koi and Italian food at Four Brothers, and enjoy the Goshen Fair, Granville General Store, and York Lake.

Besides her devotion to her family, Joan’s life was defined by her generosity. She was a proud supporter of causes including the ASPCA, various wildlife conservancies and charities in support of military families. She was a lifelong lover of cats, rescuing and adopting several throughout her life and enjoying their quiet companionship.

Aside from her parents and husband, Joan is preceded in death by her older brother Charles Howard Meier, Jr (Lt Col, U.S. Air Force, Ret.)(Elisabeth).

Joan is survived by her beloved daughter Deborah Joan Levin, son-in-law Aaron Levin, her grandchildren Renee Levin and Avery Levin, her younger brother Louis A. Meier III (Col., Air National Guard, Ret.)(Barbara) and many nieces and nephews.

Service - A grave side service to honor Joan’s remarkable life will be held on Friday, July 17, 2026, 10:30 at Sandisfield Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Joan may be made to Hospice Care in the Berkshires c/o Finnerty & Stevens Funeral Home, 426 Main St., Great Barrington, MA 01230. To send remembrances to her family please go to www.finnertyandstevens.com