Joleen (Glidden) Ham – 85, of North Reading, MA, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA.

Joleen was born in Portland, ME on April 29, 1933 to Edwin S. and J. Elizabeth “Betty” (Winton) Glidden.  She graduated from Deering High School in Portland, ME in 1951 and from Wheelock College in Boston in 1955 with a degree in early childhood education.   She was the first in her family to graduate from college and remained very active in Wheelock’s alumni activities for her class.  She was a former director of the Hilltop Nursery School in North Reading.

Joleen was a long-time member of the Union Congregational Church in North Reading and was part of the church choir, the Care Committee and loved her friends in the Serendipity Circle.  She enjoyed knitting prayer shawls for the Care Committee and decorating wreathes for the annual Frosty’s Fair.

She loved to sing and, in addition to being in the church choir, had been part of numerous community groups including the “Jubilaires”, the North Regional Theatre Workshop, the North Reading Community Chorale, and, most recently, the “Senior Echoes”.

She loved spending her summers at Chewonki Campground in Wiscasset, ME where she and her family camped for over 50 years.  It was truly her “home away from home.” And, naturally, it came with the added bonus of having her favorite steamed clams and lobsters fresh from the Maine ocean.

She was loved and will be missed by her husband of 64 years, Richard W. Ham of North Reading; her children, Deborah Ham of Peabody, MA; David W. Ham of Merrimack, NH; and Elizabeth V. “Betsey” Driscoll and her husband Raymond of Dracut, MA; and her grandchildren, Matthew R. Driscoll and his wife Holly of Billerica, MA; Hayley E. Driscoll and her fiancé Benjamin Regan of Lowell, MA; Adam T. Driscoll of Dracut, MA and Nicholas R Driscoll of Dracut, MA; her brother, Richard B. Glidden and his wife Mary of Fairport, NY; and several nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Joleen’s memory to Chewonki Campgound, P.O. Box 261, Wiscasset, ME 04578 or the Union Congregational Church, 148 Haverhill Street, North Reading, MA 01864.  A private family memorial service will be held at a later date. Arrangements are by the Croswell Funeral Home, 19 Bow Street, North Reading. www.croswellfuneralhome.com