Joan E. Macmillen

Joan Eleanor (Braungart) MacMillen, 79, beloved wife of the recently deceased Wilkins "Sam" MacMillen, passed away peacefully on February 6, 2016, after a long and courageous battle with lung cancer and lung disease. Joan was born in Schenectady, NY and was the daughter of the late Emil Braungart and Helen Lynch. After graduating from Nott Terrace High School in 1954, she attended Albany Business College where after graduation she met Sam. She then went to work as a stenographer for an executive in the Department of Environmental Conversation. After several years of work and dedicated service to EnCon, she stayed home with her children to raise her family. She contributed greatly to the success that Sam had over the course of his 36 years working for New York State Parks and Recreation, guiding the family through several moves in support of the jobs her husband held in Thacher State Park and Grafton Lakes State Park.
Joan's favorite hobbies were reading and knitting, and the Christmas stockings she made for her family - and many, many others - were legendary. As a young woman she spent a lot of time with her circle of friends; she and her closest friends made a cross-country trip via car out to the Grand Canyon in 1957 where they had experiences that lasted a lifetime. She truly loved spending time with her husband of nearly 53 years, her two sons, her grandchildren and her great grandchildren. She enjoyed taking trips to Maine, Florida, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and also going to breakfast at both Tools and Windowbox where she and Sam were regulars and had many friends. Joan had an extremely generous and caring heart, and gave generously to many organizations and causes that were important to her. She was deeply religious, a true woman of faith, and firmly believed in the strength of prayer. She thought of others continually, and routinely initiated prayer chains for those in need and distress. In keeping with her kind and caring nature, Joan spent the last 10 years caring for her husband as his health declined, and was by his side through his ailments, numerous surgeries, recoveries and eventual passing.
As noted, she is pre-deceased by her husband, Wilkins ("Sam") MacMillen. She is survived by her son John E. MacMillen, her son Matthew S. MacMillen and wife Hollie, her brothers Howard Braungart and Edward Braungart, her sister Ann Shave, her grandchildren John E. MacMillen II, Jesse W. MacMillen, Julianna P. MacMillen and James Porter, as well as her great grandchildren Jayden, Mia and Tristen, and a long list of extended family and friends.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Albany Regional Dialysis Center for their friendship to Joan and caring over many years, the staff at Brookdale Assisted Living in Latham, and the staff at Evergreen Nursing Home for their compassion during the time of Joan's passing.
Calling hours will be at New Comer Funeral Home on Thursday, February 11 from 10:00 am -12:00 pm with a brief service to follow at the home.
Memorial donations can be made to Autism Speaks, a charity dear to Joan's heart. Gifts can be made online at AutismSpeak.org, or by mailing your donation to Autism Speaks, 1060 State Road, 2nd Floor, Princeton, NJ 08540. Please make your checks payable to Autism Speaks; you may reference Joan MacMillen in memoriam.