Plaisted   - Joan Marie Labbe Dube died peacefully, with loved ones by her side, on November 15, 2022.  She was born in Wallagrass, Maine, on March 21, 1930, the youngest of six children born to Dave and Lena Labbe.  Her mother Lena passed away when Joan was a year old.  When she was four, her father married Mamie Laferriere, who became a strong and beautiful mother figure for Joan, her sisters and her brothers.  Joan married the love of her life, Kenneth Dube, on November 11, 1947, and they lived happily in a house they built together on the shores of Eagle Lake in Plaisted, Maine.  There they raised three rambunctious children, Clayton, Jim, and Ann, and spent their days working hard, enjoying life, and hosting a steady stream of family and friends, each and every one of whom she held dear.  When Joan was 39 years old, Ken died.  But she was a brilliant, talented, strong, and determined woman, and she proceeded to raise three children by herself while also returning to school, graduating - alongside her son Jim, in 1972 - with her high school diploma, and then continuing on to earn a degree at the University of Maine at Fort Kent.  She worked as an assistant clerk at the Fort Kent District Court, as a ward clerk at People's Benevolent Hospital (Northern Maine Medical Center), and as an employee and later Director of Literacy Volunteers in the St. John Valley, a job she loved and excelled at doing.

Joan was predeceased by her parents, Lena and Dave Labbe; by her loving stepmother, Mamie; by her cherished husband Kenneth; by her sisters Theresa Cyr and Dolores Levasseur, by her brothers Arthur, Lionel, and Camille; and by her beloved son Jim.  She is survived by her sister-in-law Dolores Labbe ("Bee"); her son Clayton Dube and his wife Louise of Wallagrass; her daughter Ann Dow and her partner Bill Devoe of Orono; her grandchildren Christine Layman (Shane), Benjamin Adams, Kenneth Dube, Angela Adams, Phillip Dube (Kenzie), Jon Dow (Abbey), Sam Dow (Lindsay Dale), and Holly Coston (Matthew), nine great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson, along with many loving nieces and nephews, each of whom will long remember their visits with her at "MaTante's Lake."  Joan is also survived by her longest and dearest friends, Maxine DesOrmeaux and Bedette Fournier.

The family would like to express its special gratitude for the many years of friendship and support given to Joan by Paul Pelletier, M.D., of Eagle Lake and his staff.

A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at 10:00 AM at St. Mary Church in Eagle Lake.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Literacy Volunteers of America or a charity of your choice. Arrangements have been entrusted to Lajoie-Daigle Funeral Home.