On June 29, at the Marblehead Council on Aging’s bocce court, eight teams gathered to roll balls around the court where Joanna “Josie” Crowley spent so many days. This time she wasn’t there to greet them.
They were there for the Josie Crowley Memorial Bocce Tournament, which took place a few months after Crowley died at home on March 22, surrounded by her family. For the friends and co-workers who made the Council on Aging their second family, returning to the game she loved was a natural way to remember her.
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Crowley was a regular member of the center and a true marbleheader who loved the city. She attended breakfasts for veterans, chair volleyball and fitness classes, and played many games of bocce ball on the same patio where her friends came to honor her. At the center, her family said, she put others first and had a knack for making people smile.
Joanna “Josie” Crowley, shown in Marblehead Harbor, was remembered June 29 as friends, family and fellow bocce players gathered at the Marblehead Council on Aging for the first Josie Crowley Memorial Bocce Tournament. PHOTO COURTESY/CROWLEY FAMILY
Crowley was born in Marblehead to Mary Brady Hammond and Ralph Hammond and graduated from Marblehead High School in 1959 before training at Salem Hospital Pediatric Nursing School. She met her husband John while they were both working at Jordan Marsh and they were together for 63 years. The couple retired at the same time 26 years ago and moved back to the city where she grew up.
In subsequent years, she followed John’s orders in the Air Force from post to post, worked as a teacher’s aide in schools for students with disabilities in Pennsylvania and Indiana, and volunteered for over 20 years teaching CCD to high school students at St. Basil School in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. She decorated her home for every holiday and was known for her ever-changing hair color.
Pat Bibbo helped lead the eight-team tournament. The family called it a great day. The players didn’t just compete. They raised money for a plaque for the bocce patio, a trophy for the winning team and lunch, turning an afternoon bocce game into something the center can treasure long after the last ball has been thrown.
Volunteers supported the work, including the Marotta family, Sheila Warrell, Judy Kuzner and Judy Fox. Janine Glabicki paid tribute to Crowley, as did Bibbo and John Crowley, who spoke of a wife and mother the city should remember.
Family, friends and tournament participants gather for lunch after the first Josie Crowley Memorial Bocce Tournament at the Marblehead Council on Aging. The June 29 event celebrated the life of Crowley, whose welcoming spirit made the center a second home for many. (Will Dowd)
Donations in Crowley’s memory were directed to the Friends of the Marblehead Council on Aging, the same circle of friends and co-workers she considered family.
The most powerful tribute came from one of the winning players. According to a family account published by The Independent, Victor recalls that when he and his wife first moved to Marblehead and showed up for bocce, Crowley greeted them with open arms, blue hair and a smile.
This greeting was the link throughout the entire day. Crowley was one of the people who made newcomers to the Council on Aging feel like they belonged, and the people she welcomed used her performance to say goodbye.
John Crowley and his family thanked the center, volunteers and participants for making the tournament a tribute to her memory, and the plaque they paid for will keep her name on the patio where she once greeted them all.
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