Those of you who know me in real life will probably know that my Nan died last week, passing away quietly in her sleep.
Born Joan Frances Farley in 1923, she went on to be a nurse and saw loads of action in the war, stationed in India. She hated curry to her dying day. Eventually, she married Joseph McCartney and the legend of Joan McCartney was born. Together, they were two of the most amazing people I’ll ever know. I feel beyond lucky to have known them and had them as Grandparents. They gave my mother the best upbringing they could manage and she passed all of that on to me.
Mac Family, 1991
- Photo by by Terry O’Neill:
- Top L-R: Me (I know, I know), Reg Keenan, Sir, Joe McCartney (Grandad), Bert Danher, Mike McCartney.
- Bottom L-R: Lynn Danher, Jean Keenan, Cath Keenan, Joan McCartney (Nan), Mary McCartney.
Whilst in Liverpool for her funeral, my girlfriend, Li, thought she’d give my mother some good news and mentioned that we’d been thinking of getting married. Ten minutes later, my mother called me upstairs and told me my Nan really liked Li and hoped we’d get married, so in light of the recent news, it made sense for us to have something of my Nan’s: a ring.
We were driving home to Teesside that day, so I suggested that we drive via the Lake District and have lunch in Keswick (where my parents had their honeymoon all those years ago). We had a nice lunch but the weather was against us. As we couldn’t walk anywhere nice, I had to whip the ring out in the car. I asked Li if she’d marry me. She said Yes.
We are happy. 
This article is copyright © 2012 Phil Sherry.
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Congratulations! I’ve been happily married for almost 4 years now. Not too long, but I believe I heard that many marriages in North American end in divorce by the second year. Yay for bucking trends!
Hello, I just stumbled upon your site and learned of Joan’s passing. I was her and Joe’s American friend for over 30 years, but had lost track of her sometime after Joe passed. She and Joe came to Ohio to stay with me and my former husband for a week in 1990. I was blessed to have the most unique friendship with them and am sad to learn of her death. I had been thinking of her strongly again and decided to do a search online. I did the painting of Joe at the Chip O Dee, which I sent her several years ago, but didn’t hear back if she got it or not. Please accept my sympathy, belatedly, for we were very close at one time.
Thank you.
Vickie Boley in Ohio