BANGOR – On Monday, July 16, 2012, JoAnn (Quirk) Munson, Bangor’s Real Estate Lady, passed from us to dance with the angels on the streets of gold in the kingdom of God. An early report states she already has two listings, an under contract, and invites all to attend an open house at their own House of the Lord on Sunday. Mary JoAnn was born Nov. 10, 1930, in Bangor, the only daughter of John J. and Frances (Billington) Quirk.
JoAnn attended St. Johns school and graduated from John Bapst High School in 1949. She loved dancing from her early years and continued participation in it through high school. JoAnn graduated from Husson Business School where she participated in several musical and theater productions as well as being a varsity cheerleader. It was at Husson that she met Donald Grindle and they married in 1953. JoAnn and Don, who later was respectfully referred to as “Don One,” parented three children, Julie, Jim and Eric. JoAnn’s endeavors during the next several decades included positions in the medical and social services fields. Socially, at one point, she served as state president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce Wives. She continued her love of dance and theater by joining local productions including her portrayal of the equally beautiful “Daisy Mae” in “Lil Abner” and a role in “Stop The Stretcher, I Want To Get Off.” After this, JoAnn persevered through several years of single parenting and began a career in the employment placement business. It was here that she met the newly-transplanted-to-Maine Donald Munson, whom she would marry in 1978, and he would become her “Don Juan” and she his “Sweet Mary Jo.” JoAnn founded her own employment agency, Twin City Employment, which she sold in 1982. In 1984 JoAnn began her career in real estate, joining ERA Dawson as an associate broker. JoAnn was an immediate success and by 1986 began her long running Elite “Top 5” annual recognition by ERA of Maine. In 1989 her husband, Don, joined her at ERA Dawson on a full time basis. Expanding on his beginning role of “Driving Miss Daisy,” JoAnn and Don merged their natural talents and strengths to become pioneers in the team concept of real estate sales and service. They conducted several seminars on this subject for ERA at various national conventions. In Maine, their sales production ranked No. 1 in 1989 and 1993, being edged for the top spot in the intervening years by a team from the Portland area. In 1993 JoAnn and Don participated in 109 real estate sales transactions, an achievement recognized by ERA as the 11th most in the USA. They were early proponents of the internet, with a personal website with inclusion of photo descriptions of their active listings available to web visiting buyers. This was in 1990, years before such sites as Realtor.com, etc. were conceived. JoAnn was often the recipient of a standing ovation when recognized at statewide ERA conventions and in 2005 was honored with ERA’s highest honor, the John Harmon Lifetime Real Estate Achievement Award. During this career JoAnn also served on the Alumni Board of Directors of Husson University and served as its president. She was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in business to update her Husson Business School Diploma. In 2004 JoAnn was honored as Husson’s Outstanding Business Alumni and was equally proud to present the same award to her brother Jack Quirk, the founder of the Quirk Auto Group, the following year. JoAnn, for years, served on the Membership Committee for Bangor Chamber of Commerce. She was a member of the Breakfast Kiwanis, served on the board of the St. Joseph Hospital Auxiliary, was a board member of Eastern Maine Medical Center Hospice and a member of EMMC Auxiliary.
Our beloved JoAnn will be forever missed by her devoted husband, Don; all her children and spouses, Julie and Steve McClarie, Jim and Lisa Grindle, Eric and June Grindle, Janice and Rich Schank, Laura and Jack Hegyi, Rita Munson, and Sheila and Vince Piccone; grandchildren, Richard, John, Jeffrey, Jacob, Ashley, Nicole, Jamie, Hope, Ella, Alex, Brad, Jeremy, Frank, Gina and Stephen; great-grandchildren, Jazmine, Micah, John Jr., Sophie and Milo; brothers, Jack and Bunny Quirk, and George and Mina Quirk; many nieces and nephews; and by her many friends and thousands of past customers and clients.
Relatives and friends are welcome to call 5-8 p.m. Thursday, July 19, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated 11 a.m. Friday, July 20, at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Ohio Street, Bangor. Condolences to the family may be expressed at
www.BrookingsSmith.com.