Joan Pickett, beloved daughter, sister, aunt and friend to many, was a longtime resident of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and a Cambridge city councillor. She passed away, surrounded by her loving and adoring family, on Aug. 31, 2024, after an unexpected and brief illness. She was 69.
Originally from Dover, New Hampshire, Joan attended Dover High School and spent her childhood summers with her family at their cottage in Alton Bay, New Hampshire. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston College.
Joan’s love of learning prompted her to move to New York City to further her education. She pursued a Master of Public Health and a Master of Business Administration at Columbia University, graduating with distinction.
Joan’s Upper West Side home was a joyous, welcoming place, always filled with family, friends and her precious dogs. Several of her nieces and nephews lived with Joan and Adane while pursuing their education and spending fun-filled summers on the East Coast. Their home was a cornerstone of the family, where doors were always open to visitors and served as a gathering place, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas, when they often hosted extended family.
During her time in New York City, she was a managing director at Citigroup before transitioning to various roles at Standard & Poor’s. Her career focused on areas such as commercial lending and municipal bond finance, and she served as the head of the health care and higher education unit at Standard & Poor’s bond rating agency.
Looking to serve the community on a different level, Joan returned to the Boston area and spent 25 years working closely with academic and community physicians and staff. She used her years of experience and wealth of knowledge in strategic planning and business development at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
A resident of Mid-Cambridge for almost 27 years, Joan was a committed community leader. She was an active member and past president of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association and served as chair of Cambridge Streets for All. She volunteered for the Charles River Conservancy as board chair and finance committee chair. In her retirement, Joan was elected as a Cambridge city councillor and began her service in that role in January 2024.
Passionate about dog training and rescue, Joan was a founding board member of Caring Canines Pet Therapy, which provided comfort and happiness to children fighting cancer. She adopted and fostered multiple rescue dogs, providing a loving and safe home for neglected and abused animals. She was an avid gardener and created a peaceful oasis that was her favorite place to catch up with family and friends. She loved art and antiques – a passion she inherited from her mother – and spent many happy hours hunting for treasures to sell in her booth at the Cambridge Antiques Market.
Joan is preceded in death by her parents, James F. and Addie Pickett, and her sister and best friend, Sally (Pickett) Cadman of Hollis, New Hampshire. She is survived by her loving husband, Adane Dessie; Christopher Cadman; her brothers and sisters-in-law; her beloved nieces and nephews; and countless close friends.
A ceremony will be held at Grondin Funeral Home, with burial at Pine Hill, on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 10:30 a.m., followed immediately by a memorial service at Cambridge City Hall from 3 to 6 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations can be made on behalf of Joan Pickett to Caring Canines at caringcanines.org.
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