Jo-Anne Finn (Bond)

Jo-Anne Marie Finn (Bond) May 11, 1959 – November 30, 2023

Jo-Anne Marie Finn (Bond) passed away early on the morning of November 30, 2023. She was surrounded by her loving husband Patrick Finn and his sister Barbara Finn-Buchanan and her brother Michel Bond and his wife Guylaine Richer. She was 64 years old. Jo-Anne had been living for a number of years with a diagnosis of Early Onset Alzheimer’s.

Jo-Anne was born on May 11, 1959 in New Liskeard, Ontario to John Bond and his wife Eliane Bond. She was the only girl and had two older brothers Michel and Guy Bond. Her father John worked as a farm equipment salesperson for Massey Ferguson and his job kept the family moving.

Jo-Anne attended the College Montmorency in Laval. She worked for a number of years as a Dietetic Technician at the Hospital Champlain in Verdun, Quebec.

She met her future husband Patrick while on vacation at Club Med Cancun. They enjoyed eight days together before Patrick returned home to San Diego. Patrick called her when she returned home from her vacation and was greeted by her beautiful voice answering, “Oui...Oui...Allo.” What was meant to be a one time call remembering a beautiful time on vacation turned into weekly phone calls. Jo-Anne invited Patrick to Montreal in November. He went and returned again for Christmas. Jo-Anne had rented a Chalet for a romantic getaway. Jo-Anne visited San Diego in February and again at the end of April. In between these visits there were many phone calls.

One evening while enjoying the company of her girlfriends one of them said to Jo-Anne, “ You are giving up your Country, your language, your job, your life here in Montreal...what is he giving up?” She posed this question to Patrick. Patrick at a loss for words...and realizing how big the move was for Jo-Anne recovered and said…” I love you Jo-Anne and I want to be with you...financially San Diego makes more sense for me and I think we can be happy here.”

Jo-Anne moved to San Diego in July 1987 on an Alien Fiancee Visa which requires you to be married within ninety days of entering the United States. Barbara who is Patrick’s sister had already been planning a wedding to husband Bob Buchanan and suggested to Patrick and Jo-Anne that they have a double wedding. They were married on October 1, 1988. Patrick started a career in real estate one month later. Jo-Anne attended a local Community College in San Diego and studied English. The teacher later asked her to be his assistant. Jo-Anne went onto work with Patrick as an assistant in Real Estate for several years.

Jo-Anne had a sweet and gentle soul and was kind to everyone. She enjoyed taking Yoga classes with Nancy Sanks and developed many friendships through the weekly classes and the weekend Yoga Retreats. She studied Macrobiotic and Vegan Cooking and developed new friendships with a group of women she called the Macro Babes. Jo-Anne loved Art History and enjoyed traveling with Patrick. Some of her favorite trips were to Israel, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France and the United Kingdom.

At home Jo-Anne loved to meet with friends...have a coffee and something sweet to eat and engage in what she called Spaghetti Talk. The conversation starts in one place but you never know where it will end up. She stayed connected to her friends in Montreal and many came to visit her in San Diego. One year there was a beautiful trip with her friend Lise to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, California. Jo-Anne also loved to dance and had a good sense of rhythm.

Starting at the age of fifty Patrick noticed that Jo-Anne was asking questions that were repetitive and her organized kitchen was not as organized as it once was. Things were not where they normally where. She missed her hair and doctor appointments. Reading the newspaper one day a light went on for Patrick when he read about a very successful women’s basketball coach in Tennessee who had been diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s. Patrick set appointments for Jo-Anne to be screened for Alzheimer’s. Jo-Anne was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment which was later changed to Alzheimer’s. What followed was a Clinical Trial for a new Alzheimer’s drug, regular exercise, supplements, and a Keto Diet. Over time Jo-Anne’s Alzheimer’s continued to progress. At first the Alzheimer Day Program worked well. But as the disease continued Patrick realized that Jo-Anne’s care needs required more care and that a Memory Care Residence would be needed. This type of care is quite expensive in the United States to obtain privately and the public option in Patrick’s opinion was not as good as what was available in Canada.

Patrick retired from Real Estate earlier than he had planned. One day short of his sixty-second birthday. Patrick and Jo-Anne moved to Quebec on October 20, 2019 just before Covid. They stayed with Jo-Anne’s brother Michel Bond and his wife Guylaine Richer for several months before moving into a condo in Laval. Patrick selected Laval as a place to live because he thought the services offered at the Societe Alzhiemer would prove helpful. It was there that he met Evelyne Papineau, a family counselor, who would be instrumental in helping Patrick get at home care for Jo-Anne until a residence was available. Jo-Anne moved into CHSLD Sainte-Dorothee in April 2021 and later CHSLD Val de Brises a year later. The residence was designed to look more like a residential home. This would be Jo-Anne’s home for the next two years and seven months.

Jo-Anne received loving care at CHSLD Val de Brises. Even in her disease she was able to express love and kindness to the people who visited her and the people who cared for her. Jo-Anne had expressed to Patrick many times that she did not want to live a long life with Alzheimer’s. Her brother Guy Bond passed away six months before Jo-Anne in an Alzheimer’s residence in Ottawa. We take comfort in the thought that Jo-Anne is in a better place and we hope to one day be united with her.