Joan Elizabeth Haberek

                               May 16, 1937 - February 21, 2026

 

                         It is what it is. It’s not what should have been. 

                         It’s not what it could have been. It is what it is.

 

Born in Syracuse, New York, the oldest of five children, Joan in some ways was always ahead of her time. She lived life with a sense of adventure, was boldly herself and managed to live life to its fullest, even among the toughest of times.

 

She was an entrepreneur, owning several small businesses, including one of the very first video stores in the 80s. She was a homesteader, moving out of the city environment she had only ever known and building a rural life while raising five children of her own and cultivating several acres of land into a wonderland no matter the season.

 

Joan was a performer. Together with her husband of 52 years, she entertained many an event with her beautiful voice that accompanied his bright accordion playing.

 

She was fearless. 

 

“Mom, what do you want to do for your 80th birthday?”

 

“I want to go to New Orleans and get a tattoo.” 

 

And so she did. And she serenaded a packed audience at the House of Blues.

 

The tattoos were angels’ wings in remembrance of her two daughters. Her second tattoo added just a year later was in tribute to her own two sisters.

 

She was a caregiver. Not only to her children, but to her extended family, all who called her Aunt Joanie, friends, neighbors and, of course, her husband.

 

She was a Grandma to five and a Nonnie to three.

 

She was the Mayor of Everywhere … making quick friends wherever she went and building connections. Whether it was her bowling league, the VFW, American Legion, the wing of her apartment building, or her new community in Colorado, she kept people close and engaged.

 

Joan didn’t always have the easy road. She was predeceased by her husband Paul and three of her children: Walter, Sharon and Mary. She was also predeceased by her brothers Walter and Edward.

 

She is survived by her son Paul (Terry), her daughter Carolyn (John) Blanco-Losada, daughter-in-law Melissa Haberek, sisters Patricia Epolito and Delores Bialobreski, and grandchildren Karrie (Jen), Ryan (Chelsea), Alex (Brooklyn), Paulie (Cristina) and Evan, as well as great-grandchildren Owen, Dylan and Liliana.

 

Often when presented with hardships, mom’s go-to phrase was “what are you gonna do, it is what it is.” Of all the things my mother said to me, it is probably that simple 5 word saying - it is what it is -  that was the hardest to learn, and what will stay with me to the end of my days.

 

When I was younger, I used to bristle at that fatalistic take on life as I wanted to change everything. Now that I’m older, I understand the importance of acceptance, see the wisdom to understand how to adapt to those immovable things around you and that the peaceful path can bring joy.

 

We will celebrate Joan’s life with her Colorado friends in April and with Syracuse friends and family on what would be her 89th birthday on May 16th. Details to come. She will join her husband Paul at Arlington Cemetery at a date to be determined.