Mary Joan Bilcheck, age 93, of Southbury, passed away on November 1, 2022. Born on July 8, 1929, in Orient, PA, she was the sixth of seven children born to John and Mary Bilcheck, Sr.

The following year, the company coal mines shut down and the family relocated to Stratford, CT.  Mary Joan attended Stratford public schools and graduated from Stratford High in 1947, where she was a distinguished oboe player in the band. She would continue to perform with the Stratford Community Band for many years.  Upon graduation, she attended Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing.  Upon graduation, Mary Joan enrolled in and graduated with honors from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. in Nursing.

Mary Joan was hired by Grace New Haven Hospital School of Nursing (the forerunner of Yale New Haven Hospital), to teach nursing. Eventually, she became the head of the nursing education department. Mary Joan was very demanding of her students and expected excellence.  Later in life, those nurses who graduated from her program would say that it was because of Mary Joan that they became the best that they could be.  Once Grace New Haven Hospital was assimilated into Yale New Haven Hospital, she became Vice-President of Nursing in charge of quality control. She lived with her mother for many years and took great care of her.  In 1966, she moved to Milford, CT. In 1993, after close to forty years of teaching and working at Yale New Haven Hospital, she retired and moved to Heritage Village in Southbury to be near her sister, Irene.

Before and during retirement, she was an officer in the Connecticut Nursing Association, worked for the Red Cross teaching CPR throughout Connecticut, was President of the St. John's Ladies Guild, choir member and Sunday School Teacher at St. John's and became an Associate of the Sisters of The Order of St. Basil The Great. Over the years, she would make an annual trip out to Uniontown, PA to assist her good friend, Sister Ruth Plante, in planning, baking and cooking for the annual pilgrimage by the faithful.

She was predeceased by her brothers John Bilcheck Jr., William Bilcheck, George Bilcheck and Eugene Bilcheck and her sisters, Irene Wilkins and Monica Joseph.

She leaves behind several nieces and nephews: Paula, Bonnie, Patty, George, Laura, Christian, Eugene, Bruce, Nancy, William and Serge. Throughout the years, she never forgot her niece's and nephew's birthdays and there was always a present under the Christmas tree from Aunt Mary Joan.

Friends and family may visit on Monday, November 7 ^th from 8:30am to 9:30am at Adzima Funeral Home 50 Paradise Green Place Stratford. Followed by a Divine Liturgy Funeral Service at 10:00 am in St. John Byzantine Catholic Church, 100 St. Johns Drive, Trumbull.  Internment will take place at Mt. St. Macrina in Uniontown, PA at a later date.