At the age of 93 Joan Buford Kenefick Gilmore passed on to a better world on December 28, 2022, where she is reunited with many family, friends, and admirers who have gone before her. Born in Alston in 1929, she attended Catholic schools and upon graduation, became a Novena at the Sisters of the Assumption in Halifax, Nova Scotia. But her calling to the convent ended abruptly when she met the love of her life and future husband across the Thanksgiving table while visiting friends in Boston after the war and a simple, sanctified life of peace and solitude went abruptly awry. Raising a large family of gregarious children, she cooked for nine people every night for decades, and simultaneously extolled the virtues of manners, responsibility, and kindness to others at many a meal. Lord knows she prayed for every one of her children to survive some trial or tribulation more than once which was usually requested based on her well-known direct connection to the Almighty. A lover of chutney, chocolate, hot popcorn, yoga, and any good crime novel, she pretty much read every mystery available in the Plymouth Public Library. She would bring home stacks of books at a time and consume them voraciously between watching favorite shows like Colombo or Murder She Wrote. In later years she enjoyed providing a central gathering place for family weddings, celebrations, and countless holiday gatherings at the homestead on Warren Avenue.


At heart she was a gentle person who also saw giving to others beyond the family as a good and appropriate calling in her life, and she literally touched thousands of people through altruism and selflessness. Lecturing at the church, taking in recovering substance abusers, providing shelter for wayward relatives, raising funds for the League of Women Voters, driving cancer patients, as well as personally and publicly standing up against the war in Vietnam to name a few. "Find 10 things to be thankful for every day" was one of her mantras, and that was good advice for all who came to her in need. Those who knew her best sensed the good at the core of her soul and felt the unconditional love she practiced. More spiritual than religious, she was the rock of our lives and everyone around her knew it. She provided solace and sage advice in any situation to those who sought her guidance, and lived a life of example through compassion and grace. Unflappable and ever optimistic that the Lord would never give us anything we could not handle with faith, she endured significant hardship and loss in her life with a simple and steadfast adherence to God's plan. Her pithy wisdom and soft Boston accent will remain with all of us forever.


Joan was predeceased by her husband Dr. John Gilmore, sons John and Charles Gilmore, as well as each of her three siblings. She is survived by five children including Eve Gilmore, Lisa Gilmore, Peter Gilmore, Christina Gilmore, Edward Gilmore, thirteen grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.


A wake is set for 5:00-7:00pm Friday, January 6, 2023 at the Cartmell-Davis Life Celebration Funeral Home 373 Court Street Plymouth, MA. A Funeral Mass will be at 10:30am January 7, 2023 at St. Peter's Catholic Church, 86 Court Street, Plymouth, MA. Donations in lieu of flowers can be sent to the Plymouth Public Library Foundation, 132 South Street, Plymouth, MA 02360.