Joan Bezon

Dr. Joan F. Bezon, 84, passed away peacefully with family at her side on Wednesday, June 19, 2024 at United Memorial Medical Center under Hospice care.

Joan was the daughter of Frank and Genevieve Mikolajczyk of Oakfield and wife of the late Richard J. Bezon whom she married in 1961 after graduating from Notre Dame High School in Batavia and receiving her Nursing degree from the Arnot Ogden School of Nursing in Corning. The couple settled in Byron, raising their son John and daughter Rebecca. Joan started the Nursing career that would span the next five decades at Genesee Memorial, now UMMC as an Emergency Room/Floor/Charge Nurse and Inservice Coordinator and continued her education receiving her Bachelor’s in Nursing from SUNY Brockport, Masters Degree from the University of Rochester and Doctorate from The University of South Florida in Tampa where she would teach the Nursing program for nearly two decades after she and her husband Richard moved to Florida in the mid- 80’s. After his death in 1998, Joan moved to Fort Myers Beach, FL where she worked as the Geriatric Nurse Practitioner for several Nursing homes in the area until her retirement in 2017 at age 78. Later that year she would suffer a stroke which left her with difficulties speaking. She returned to New York in 2021 and lived with her daughter just two miles from the family home where she had raised her children until her death.

Joan is survived by her son John (Jeannine) Bezon, daughter Becky (Frank Spiotta) Bezon-Sando, grandchildren Dr. Christina (Joshua) Wu, Arianna (John) Quattrochhi, John Christopher (Stephanie) Bezon, Garrett Sando and Wyatt Sando, sisters-in-law Edith Bezon, Suzie Bezon and Barbara Mikolajczyk, 6 great grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and dear family friend Jeanne Covington. She is predeceased by her parents, infant sister Mary Joan, brother John Mikolajczyk, husband Richard, Father and Mother-in-Law Joseph Sr. and Stephania Bezon, brothers-in-law Joseph Jr., Eugene and Douglas Bezon and sister-in-law Monica (John) Rice.

A devote Catholic, Joan was a generous and giving woman who enjoyed cooking - often making meals for everyone in the neighborhood in Fort Myers Beach and advocating for others. She established a free clinic for low income families in Tampa run by the University of South Florida, served as a guardian ad lidem to children in need in the Fort Myers area and played an integral part in establishing the Hospice program in Genesee County. She was an avid reader, enjoyed travelling, doing the New York Times Crossword puzzle (in pen) and loved dogs, especially Winston, after the loss of her beloved rescue Beagle Lucky. As a Nurse, she was compassionate and nurtured and cared for her patients and promoted furthering the education of her students to learn more about the world around us. Even in death, she continued to give back to others and made an anatomical donation to the University of Rochester in hopes of finding answers to promote health and education.

Friends and family may gather at H.E. Turner & Co. Funeral Home, 403 East Main Street Batavia, New York, on Thursday, June 27, 2024 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. A mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Cecelia’s Church in Oakfield at a later date.

In lieu of flowers The Dr. Joan F. Bezon Memorial Nursing Scholarship has been established at Genesee Community College. Donations may be made payable to GCC Foundation, 1 College Rd., Batavia, NY 14020.