Mrs. Joan Edith Barrett, 92, of Readyville, Tennessee went on to be with the Lord on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. She was born to the late Alfred Edward and Evelyn Rose Bean Steward in Norfolk, England on Friday, September 2, 1932. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sons, Garry Ladd and Steven Ladd; stepson, Ricky Barrett; and brother, Ronald Arthur Steward.
She is survived by her husband, Dee Barrett; son, Danny (Rita) Ladd; stepchildren, Jerry (Susan) Barrett, Kenneth Barrett, Steve Barrett, Sherry Barrett, and Gina (Dennie) Frazier; 10 grandchildren; and 6 great grandchildren.
Even though she was born in England, Joan had a similar upbringing and struggle as those born within the United States during the Great Depression. Unlike the United States though, war came close to home when World War II began the day before Joan’s 7th birthday. Only Holland (now the Netherlands) and the English Channel separated Norfolk from Germany. However, the Steward family remained in Norfolk throughout the war, and Joan got the surprise gift of it officially ending on her 13th birthday in 1945.
Though the war had ended, the Great Depression on top of World War II had done their worst to England’s economy, so at the ripe age of 14, Joan finished her schooling and began working in a shoe factory. The Steward family weathered the storms of this life together and built strong familial bonds. Even in Joan’s later years, she referred to her dad as her best friend.
With plenty of practical education from her raising and the workforce, there wasn’t any lack of work ethic in Joan’s body. Though factory work could be rough on the body, she was a Steward and had to grit to get the job done. When Joan got the opportunity to leave the factory setting, she began working at a tea shop. Soon after, she met her soon-to-be first husband. He was in the U.S. Air Force and managed to sweep young Joan off her feet. She moved to the United States around the age of 23, but hardship fell on her shoulders again when her husband left her and their three boys.
That same Steward mentality rose to the challenge, and Joan took whatever came her way in stride. She knew who she was and who she wanted to continue to be in life, and her boys grew up witnessing and adoring their strong, loving, kind, and caring mother, who knew how to lay down the law but also mend a broken heart. Her generosity toward her boys from her time and talents kept her active in their raising, and Garry, Danny, and Steven knew exactly how proud she was of them.
Joan’s pride grew when she became a U.S. citizen. She learned to drive in the United States and juggled her quick, cultural education with working and taking care of her three boys. Factory work was what Joan knew, and what was readily available to her. She began working at Greer Stop Nut in Smyrna. Noticing her eye for detail, she rose to the position of Inspector in the Quality Control Department. Greer created fasteners for automobiles, planes, boats, and submarines, and Joan took her job seriously.
It put food on the table and clothes on her family’s backs, and she didn’t miss a single day of work for 12 years. Working 2nd shift let her be involved in her boys’ lives because she could work while they were sleeping and get in a little bit of sleep while they were at school. Independent and protective of who came into her boys’ lives, Joan was quick to put people in their place and keep on working. It got her noticed by many people, including her superiors and a man named Dee Barrett.
Dee took notice when Joan ran off a man that had dated several women in the plant and knew she had to be a good woman. She proved this over and over again with her independence and work ethic. When she joined the bowling league, Dee delighted in figuring out they were in the same league, but they were on different teams. He noticed that Joan came alone, left alone, and showed up to work alone, so when her team won the big trophy for the company, she also won over Dee’s heart.
He asked Joan to attend the fall company party with him, but she was still cautious on who she let into her life. She turned Dee down and told him that she would see him there if he showed up. Dee was sure to make the party and show Joan that he was a man who matched her belief in work ethic. As Dee and Joan got to know one another better, they learned about their similar plights in life from birth into their middle-age years. From there, it was a done deal. They were married on July 4, 1973, making a blended family of 11 with Joan’s 3 and Dee’s 6.
Around this same time, Joan attended a Friday night meeting and made the decision to be baptized and give her life to the Lord. Being born into this world on a Friday, there is something fitting about being reborn on a Friday as well. This was the new chapter Joan and Dee needed in their lives. Placing membership at the Sunny Slope Church of Christ, they knew they’d found their church family and were faithful members for over 50 years. They were dedicated and devoted to one another, to their family, and, most importantly, to the Lord, and He was the one that carried them through the trials they were about to face with resolve and perseverance.
Becoming the mother of 9 did break Joan’s perfect attendance record at work, but she never failed to have perfect attendance at home. She continued working full-time and kept up the home, while Dee worked two jobs to make sure the family had everything they needed. They were a team in every sense of the word, and Joan didn’t want their struggles to impact the children. She hardly ever asked for help from the kids and made sure her shoulders carried the brunt of the load at home.
Just keeping up the laundry for a household of 11 would be a feat, but Joan did the laundry, cooked the meals, washed the dishes, swept, mopped, and made sure to do “spring cleaning” twice a year instead of just once. She was a force to be reckoned with and an unstoppable advocate for her family. One top of her regular work hours and household chores, Joan also brought a piece of England with her through her gardening.
Only going back to England twice the entire time she and Dee were married made her a little home sick, but she was bound and determined to have her own English garden. Her green thumb had the neighbors stopping to ask for cuttings from her beautiful rose and tea rose bushes. And her irises? Goodness, there was a line of them that brought such beauty to their home that you couldn’t keep from stopping to look at them. Her hobby attracted all kinds of wildlife, and Joan took a particular interest in hummingbirds. But she also knew when hunting season rolled around.
With her mother’s heart, she made a point to see every deer that Danny shot and brought home. The first question from her lips was if anyone else already had claim to it, and if it was a “no,” Joan put in her bid for the meat. She’d have it cut and ground up, and even though she didn’t eat it, she was sure to let Danny know Dee enjoyed it. Alongside Dee, it didn’t seem like there was anything the two couldn’t accomplish for their family. Now, you may be thinking they couldn’t have spent much time together, but Joan and Dee had a solution for that too.
Since the day they got married, they rode to work together and enjoyed the shared companionship and friendship. There was only a brief period of a year or so that Joan drove herself to work while Dee tried to run a sawmill. Missing her company and deciding it wasn’t the venture for him, Dee came back to work. They both remained at the Smyrna plant until it closed and then transferred to the one in Nashville. They continued to ride together until Joan retired in the early 2000s in her 70s with 30 years at Greer Stop Nut.
Working into her early 70s, gardening until her late 80s, and being a present and available mom, Grannie, and Great-Grannie until her passing was the life Joan wanted to live. With so many people brought into her life and so much love shared, her gruffness had dimmed to show the tender and true heart she had inside. You couldn’t help but reciprocate the honesty and truth that she embodied, and you could see her genuine intent in every action she took.
Even as Joan’s health faded, you could tell the love between her and Dee did not. They clung to God’s unchanging hand through the trials, and they still enjoyed riding together almost everywhere. Dee would park close to the door, opening Joan’s doors with one hand and carrying her purse in the other. Their love and respect for one another, their devotion to mutual helpfulness, and their work ethics for their family built a relationship to cherish and lives that gave honor and glory to God.
Visitation will be held at Gentry-Smith Funeral Home on Saturday, March 22, 2025 from 11 am – 2 pm. Funeral services will follow directly after on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 2 pm in the Gentry-Smith Funeral Home chapel. Mark Barker and Jerry Barrett will officiate. Interment will be in Riverside Garden.
Pallbearers will be Jason Ladd, Quinton Glover, Logan Glover, JD Barrett, Michael Vance, Lee Davis, and Geraldo Martinez-Blas.
Share memories and condolences at www.gentrysmithfuneralhome.com Gentry-Smith Funeral Home, 303 Murfreesboro Rd. Woodbury, TN 37190, 615-563-5337 Because every life has a story