Joan Elise Rose Collins Nugent, 95, died peacefully of natural causes with family in attendance November 21, 2020 at Goodwin House in Alexandria, Virginia. She was born June 30, 1925 in Kansas City, Missouri to humorist, newspaper columnist, and public speaker Tom Collins, and art historian Elise Guignon Collins.
Joan attended Visitation Grade School; Notre Dame de Sion (the French Convent) from grades 8–12; the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, MN, where she earned a BA in English and a BS in Library Science; and earned a Master of Information Science from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC at age 51. She married Maurice (Mo) Nugent, a speech and drama professor and public relations officer for the U.S. Navy and several federal agencies, on August 30, 1948. They had eight children, living three years in Japan, and then in Kansas City until 1969, when Mo began working at the Pentagon. They lived for 44 years in the Lake Barcroft area of Falls Church, VA. She moved to Paris, France when she retired at age 70, staying eight years full-time and another 12 years part-time, only giving up her Paris apartment at 90 years old. During those years, she traveled widely throughout Europe. She moved to Goodwin House Alexandria at age 87.
Before her children were born, Joan worked as a reference librarian at both the University of San Francisco and Yale University. She returned to work as a corporate librarian in the DC area for the National Criminal Justice Reference Service in 1972 and then at ManTech International 1977–1996. In the late 1970s, she developed two of the earliest databases ever created in the mid-Atlantic region and presented her work at conferences of the American Society of Information Science and Technology.
Joan was involved with the Civil Rights movement, especially in Kansas City, with the Congress of Racial Equality. She was active in charity work, particularly through her Catholic parishes. She helped establish a homeless shelter at Blessed Sacrament Parish in Alexandria, Virginia. With her coworkers at ManTech, she started programs to sponsor poor families for Christmas and to mentor at-risk students at the local elementary school. Joan did twice-weekly outreach to the elderly homebound through St. Sévérin Parish in Paris and was a mentor and sponsor to immigrants at St. Anthony’s Parish in Falls Church, VA.
Joan had a lifetime love of literature, art, theater, and music, especially opera. She was constantly reading to children or to herself, crouching on the floor folded over on her knees. She belonged to numerous book discussion clubs. She was much sought after for her excellent expository writing skills at her engineering company; she also published several magazine articles. She taught her children to sing before they entered school. She spent many days with her mother and children in art museums in Kansas City, Washington, New York, and Paris. She had season tickets to Arena Stage and the Washington Opera. She conducted oral histories at a historic black church, Mt. Pleasant Baptist, in Annandale/Falls Church, VA and at Goodwin House where she interviewed dozens of residents about their experiences during WWII.
She made friends very easily and, partly because of her great listening skills, people of all types would open up to her. She and Mo gave brilliant parties featuring her children’s one yearly glass of soda pop and a dazzling mixture of guests. (George C. Scott’s misbehavior at one party nearly got the Nugents evicted.) She could be found sitting on the floor with her legs tucked beneath her Japanese-style listening with rapt attention to a guest at 3 am. She was a gifted storyteller herself, bringing tales to life with her characteristic wide-eyed enthusiasm, amazing people with her youthful energy. She kept friends throughout her life from her days at the French Convent, St. Catherine’s, Japan, Kansas City, Paris, and Goodwin House. She wrote hundreds of postcards and Christmas cards.
Although she claimed she could not cook at all when she got married, she became a fantastic scratch cook, making homemade yogurt and bread in the 1950s; sukiyaki at least once a year; her famous beef brisket, which she even brought by airplane to several weddings; and her legendary Parisian Thanksgiving feasts. She loved Coca-Cola, chocolate, and salt on everything. She was a night owl and often joked that she was the only resident of Goodwin House awake after 10 pm. She loved to laugh. She did crossword puzzles in ink.
Late in her life, she told her children “I just want to have adventures.” We believe she did.
She was preceded in death by her husband of 35 years, Maurice Nugent; by her parents, Tom and Elise Collins; by her infant son, Thomas Francis Nugent; her sisters-in-law Ginny Collins, Ruth Nugent Reynolds, and Raine Renshaw Nugent; and her brothers-in-law Anthony P. Nugent, Jr. and Bill Reynolds. She is survived by her children, Anne Guignon (Derek Kilimnik) of Houston, TX; Élise Rose of Ave Maria, FL; Monica Hall (Craig Craddock) of Annapolis, MD; Molly (Jim) Cameron of Falls Church, VA; Tony Nugent (Joyce Adams) of Purcellville, VA; Paula Claire Nugent Burzio, of Germantown, MD; and Christine Julia Nugent (Jean Cavanaugh) of Cambridge, MA; her grandchildren Jilana Rose-Silverberg, Brendan Rose-Silverberg, Suzanne Hall, Jimmy Cameron (Katherine Stevens), Teddy Cameron, Erica Burzio (Phil Stacy), Tessa Burzio, Luke Burzio, and Timothy Burzio; her brother and sister-in-law Phil and Ellen Collins of Seattle, WA and Scottsdale, AZ; her brother- and sister-in-law Hugh and Mary Jane Nugent of Goodwin House, Alexandria, VA; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and godchildren.
Her children would like to thank all her friends, the staff at Goodwin House, and especially Dr. Kathryn Dreger, whose care was instrumental in keeping our mother alive for many extra years.
Because of concerns about the risk of travel and gatherings, funeral and burial arrangements have been postponed until summer 2021.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Falls Church, VA (suggested donations to the food pantry); Blessed Sacrament Catholic Parish in Alexandria, VA; the Joan Collins Nugent Memorial Scholarship Fund at Notre Dame de Sion in Kansas City, Missouri; Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Arlington, VA (suggested donations to the food pantry or Matthew 25 Bazaar Thrift Shop); or the United Negro College Fund.
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