Barbara Joan (Buccacio) Bryson

"Family. . . where life begins . . . and love never ends."

. . . and no sentiment was truer for Joan Bryson. She loved her husband, children, and grandchildren beyond words. She loved spending every moment with them and never passed on the opportunity to host friends and family in her 'palace' - her beloved family home - where she and her husband of almost sixty-five years, Fred, raised their children.

Born in Yonkers, New York on March 11, 1934, Joan was a daughter of the late Barbara (Carver) and Salvatore 'Bucky' Buccacio. After her father's time in the Navy her family relocated to Massachusetts where they settled in Brighton. She married Frederick A. Bryson, III on November 23, 1957 and the pair made Waltham their home.

Joan had worked as a secretary for the Army Corps of Engineers for a time before staying home full-time to raise her family. When her children had grown she enjoyed working the cafeteria in the Waltham Public School system, in the office at the former Waltham Hospital's accounts payable department, and later as a teacher's aide at Head Start, a job she had a natural ability for.

Joan and Fred loved the Waltham community and had been faithful communicants of Saint Mary's Church on School Street. She also enjoyed traveling to York, Maine where she and her family spent many happy summers.

Mrs. Barbara Joan (Buccacio) Bryson, of Waltham, died Saturday, October 1, 2022 peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. She was 88.

Joan leaves her husband, Frederick A. Bryson, III; her children, Kathleen B. Mulcahey (David), Frederick A. Bryson (Paula), all of York, Maine and Nancy A. O'Connell (Kevin) of Waltham; her grandchildren, Kaitlin Mulcahey, Christopher Mulcahey (Anne), Michaela O'Connell, Kaelin O'Connell, Abigail O'Connell and Michael Bates (Jessica); her sister, Jayne Homer of Madison, Connecticut and many nieces and nephews.

She was also a sister of the late Jeffrey, Joseph and John Buccacio and Judith Clough.

Family and friends will honor and remember Joan's life by gathering for calling hours in The Joyce Funeral Home, 245 Main Street (Rte. 20), Waltham on Wednesday, October 5th from 4 to 8 p.m. and again at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning before leaving in procession to Saint Mary's Church, 133 School Street, Waltham where her Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Mount Feake Cemetery, Waltham.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the New England Chapter Parkinson's Foundation, https://www.parkinson.org/NewEngland