Joan B. Larsen, age 94, of Bedford, passed away peacefully on May, 22, 2026 at Carlton Willard Village in Bedford. Joan is now reunited with her husband, the late Charles F. Larsen, her daughter Debra J. Larsen, and her sons, Charles H. Larsen and Robert A. Larsen.

She is survived by daughter Linda Larsen of Hudson, NH, son William Larsen and his wife Laurie of Westford, son John Larsen and his partner Linda Wheaton of Tynsborough and daughter-in-law Marie Larsen of South Carolina. She was the proud grandmother of Kelly, Alicia, Brittany, Nicole, Erika, Robert, James, and Jessie as well as seven great-grandchildren. Joan is predeceased by her parents, the late Harold and Erika Tyler and her brothers, Richard Tyler and Harold O’Day.

Joan, graduated from Lexington High School in 1949, and then went on to nursing school at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge which she graduated from in 1953. After graduation, she worked briefly at Mount Auburn, then at Carlton Willard Village in Bedford and at Emerson Hospital in Concord, retiring from there in 2007. She returned once a week as a volunteer to run a discussion group for psychiatric patients called “A Trip Down Memory Lane with Joan”. In 2012, Joan received the Helping Hand Certificate of Appreciation from Emerson Hospital for her 13 years of volunteerism and dedicated service to patient care and behavioral health services. All in all, Joan spent well over 60 years of her life caring for others. If anyone has ever spent time with Joan, they surely would have heard the story of how a doctor at Emerson once called her “A tough old broad”. She wore this as a badge of honor, and she certainly earned the title. 

Joan thoroughly enjoyed her time at “The Lake”, watching her kids and grandkids on the dock and in the water. Joan very rarely, if ever, actually went in into the water, having “great respect” for it. No one ever got in a boat without the appropriate number of life preservers on board. Later in life, she started to travel the globe with a group of friends and was able to visit numerous cities/countries including Sicily, Prague, Hungary, Budapest, Berlin, Portugal, Norway, Amsterdam, Dublin, Rome, London, Paris, Spain, Austria and Canada to name a few.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend visiting hours in Shawsheen Funeral Home from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, May 28th. Funeral services will beheld in the First Church of Christ Congregational, 25 Great Road in Bedford on May 29, 2026 at 11am. Interment will follow in Green Cemetery in Carlisle. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Jude's Children’s Hospital.