Obituary of Joan Claire Doscher

Joan Claire (Keefe) Doscher passed into eternal life on 10/25/2023. Joan was born 4/29/1935 at South Shore Hospital to parents Sarah and Thomas Keefe of Hingham, MA. Due to her mother’s early death, Joan was brought up in foster care until the age of 16 when her devoted Aunt Rose and Uncle Henry Higgins took her into their home in East Weymouth. Graduating from Weymouth High School in 1954 she went on to take night courses in library sciences as she worked in the children’s department at Tufts Library in Weymouth. In 1956 Miss Keefe graduated from the Academy of Moderne Modeling School in Boston – surprisingly this did not generate an successful jobs.

Meeting the love of her life on Wessagusset Beach in Weymouth in 1954, Albert Doscher of Brooklyn, NY. Getting married in 1959, living in Weymouth until 1963 when they moved to Duxbury with 3 year old daughter, Eileen Rose, Foster son, Barry Shannahan also age 3, Timothy Joseph newborn and her brother Patrick Keefe a teenager. Julie Mary and Matthew Albert complete the family in 1966 and 1968. Joan held positions in Duxbury High School library, the Town Hall, the Duxbury Senior Center and Welch Care Corp until 2009 when she retired.

Mrs. Doscher enjoyed time on Duxbury Beaches, entertaining, cooking and photography. Family and friends were her life. Hingham and Weymouth clubs and a wide circle of Duxbury friends. Believing in giving back to the community that meant so much to her, Joan volunteered at Holy Family, the Senior Center, Duxbury Thrift shop and in earlier years the Friends of Cerebral Palsy and Pine Street Inn.

Preceded in death by an infant son, Eric Francis (1969), her husband Al (1984), brother Michael Keefe (2016), sister Mary Ann Sacre (2018) and brother Patrick Martin Keefe (2023). Leaving her daughters Eileen and husband Arthur, Julie and her husband David and sons Timothy and Matthew all of Duxbury. Brother Thomas Keefe and wife Maureen (Rockland). Sister in laws Renate Doscher (New Brunswick, NJ) and Judy Keefe (Weymouth). Cherished grandchildren: Jeffrey, Lauren and Christopher Bertoni, Samantha, Craig and Cameron Borjeson. Also, dearly loved Doscher, Keefe, Arieta and Sacre nieces and nephews.

A Funeral Mass will be held for Joan at Holy Family Church on Sat. Nov. 11, 2023 at 10:00 am with a burial to follow at Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury MA. 

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Duxbury Thrift Shop Scholarship fund, P.O. Box 2108, Duxbury, MA 02331 or a charity of your choice.