The Rev Canon Joan Edith Shanks, R.N.,B.A., B.Th., S.T.M., M.Div. died peacefully on July 10, 2022 at Glengarry Hospital, Victoria, BC, at the age of seventy-nine.
She was ordained Deacon in June 1989 and Priest in March 1990, serving as assistant curate at St. James the Apostle and Acting Editor of The Montreal Churchman. She was priest assistant at Christ Church Cathedral from 1991 to 1996, while also continuing as Editor of The Montreal Anglican. Joan was Editor of the Montreal Anglican for 18 years until she stepped down in 2007.
Over the years, Joan served as Chaplain at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and as Associate Chaplain at The Royal Victoria Hospital. In 1997 she was appointed to offer Christian Ministry at Tyndale St. Georges’ and in 2001, she was made a Canon of the Diocese of Montreal.
Joan served as Interim Pastor four times in her ministry: St. Margaret of Scotland, Tetreaultville in 1996; St. George’s Place du Canada in 2002; St. Peter’s Town of Mount Royal in 2003; and St. Matthew’s, Hampstead in 2010 until her retirement in September 2010.
From her obituary, which appeared in the Montreal Gazette:
SHANKS, Joan (Edith). Daughter of the late Walter (Wally) and Christine Hinds. She is survived by her children Paul, Penelope, and David, and her grandchildren, Sebastian, Alex, Karen and Jason whom she treasured. Born in Winnipeg on July 27, 1942, she moved to Montreal with her
family as a teenager. She worked as a nurse at the Royal Victoria Hospital where she met her late husband, John (since divorced), and many lifelong friends. Her desire to care for others led her to a second career as a priest with the Montreal diocese. She moved to Victoria to be close to her son and his family.
In May of 2007 The Rev Canon Joan Shanks penned a farewell to the readers of the Montreal Anglican as she retired as Editor after 18 years. “It has been joyful, it has been stressful, it has been satisfying, and always challenging. There have been sleepless nights and days blessed with feelings of accomplishment, and always a sense of serious responsibility to you, the readers, who are the sole reason for the existence of this newspaper. Ultimately The Montreal Anglican belongs to you.”
Following a lengthy list of thank yous she went on to say, “And to you, essential readers, without you this newspaper would have so little purpose, thank you for your time and your support and your responses…
To the new editor, as yet unknown, I wish great joy, great creativity and much success and satisfaction in this difficult and worthwhile vocation.
And now, in peace, I take my leave.”
A celebration of life will be held in Victoria in 2023.
