Joan Maria Bernadette LaValley Smith of Boscawen was freed from all pain on Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 at Concord Hospital. Joan passed unexpectedly but had been valiantly taking on multiple health issues for some time. Her room barely held the number of family present to see her off. And there were cookies.

A devoted wife and outstanding mother, sister and Mimi. A legendary cook, baker and seamstress.  As a small business owner and entrepreneur, she and her family were the faces that ran Cowdrey's Country Store in Webster for eleven years. Her whoopie pies are renowned. Teacher. Mentor. Thoroughly fluent in sarcasm. She loved and enjoyed many things, including her Catholic faith, bread, candy and her granddaughter Izabella.

Her legacy echoes on through her husband Al and sons Allen Jr. and wife Megan Smith, and Jerry and wife Eliza Tasker-Smith, siblings Carol Claveaux, Jean Delano and Kerry, James, David and Richard LaValley, sister-in-law Connie Hamel and husband Douglas, as well as an extensive community who all loved and adored her. Joan has been reunited with her parents Donald and Audrey LaValley, founders of the Bittersweet Fabric Shop, and brother Donald Jr.

A Memorial service will be held on Wednesday December 6th at 11 AM in the Chapel of the Waters Funeral Home, 50 South Main Street, Concord.

Burial will follow in the Calvary Cemetery in Penacook.

In lieu of flowers, please regularly contact those you love dearly and tell them as much whilst enjoying a slice of bread with REAL butter, or you can make a donation in her memory to the Shriners Hospital of New England 516 Carew Street, Springfield, Massachusetts 01104