Joan (Cavanaugh) Severa

Joan Cavanaugh Severa, 86, passed away peacefully surrounded by her loving family at her Jamestown home early Tuesday morning, September 5, 2017.   

Joan and her husband, Warren, who passed away in 1989, moved to Graham in 1975, and she was the director of nursing at Memorial Hospital of Alamance County’s Skilled Nursing Division in Burlington for 23 years.

The eldest of Thomas and Elizabeth Altman Cavanaugh’s daughters, Joan was born February 19, 1931, in Elizabeth, N.J. She had two sisters, Ann Harzula of Jamestown, who preceded her in death, and Geraldine Marty of Stockton, N.J. who survives.  Joan grew up in New Jersey and was a graduate of Holy Name Hospital, School of Nursing in Teaneck, N.J. She met Warren, who was in the Army at the time, at a Catholic Youth Organization dance, and they married after he returned from service with the U.S. Army in 1953.

Joan pursued her career in nursing; Warren went to work at Western Electric; and they had three children together: Thomas Severa of Greensboro, who died in 2006 and is survived by his wife, Sallie Bett Severa Theall; Kathleen Severa Dorosiewicz, who lives in Jamestown with her husband, Jim; and Mark Severa, who lives in Greensboro with his wife, Cindy.

Joan and Warren and the kids shared a love of horseback riding, and Joan also enjoyed flower gardening, painting, the company of the family’s cats and dogs, and annual vacations to the Outer Banks with family and friends. She was a volunteer nurse at the Alamance Walk-In Clinic and following retirement, Hospice of the Piedmont. A devout Catholic, Joan was a member of Blessed Sacrament Church in Burlington before joining the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church after moving to the Jamestown area.

Joan is also survived by her niece, Lisa Panfile of Mendham, N.J.; seven grandchildren: Kathleen Severa, Georgia Severa, Michelle Dorosiewicz, Julie Dorosiewicz, Kelsey Severa, Hanna Severa, and Justin Forbes; and four great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Friday, September 8, 2017 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Life Tribute Center of Cumby Family Funeral Service in High Point. A Funeral Mass will be at Immaculate Heart of Mary at 1 p.m. Saturday, September 9, 2017 officiated by Father Thomas P. Norris, O.S.F.S.  Burial will follow at Alamance Memorial Park, in Burlington.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Piedmont, 1801 Westchester Drive,   High Point, NC 27262 or the Guilford County Animal Shelter, 4525 W. Wendover Avenue, Greensboro, NC 27409.

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