Joan Nestler

Holden - Joan (Carlin) Woodcock Nestler, 100, died peacefully February 19, 2024, at a local healthcare center. She was born on May 11, 1923, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of George A. and Mary (Carr) Carlin. She was the oldest of five children. Joan graduated from Garden City High School, New York, class of 1941. She spent a year at Georgetown Visitation Junior College in Washington, D.C. before returning to New York to work at New York Hospital where she met John Woodcock of Bangor, Maine. In 1946, she and John were married; they moved to Bangor in 1951, where they raised seven children.
In Bangor, Joan joined a family and a community that fed her passion for public service. She committed her endless energy to volunteer work beginning with the Good Samaritan Agency on whose Board she served. With a deep interest in historic preservation, she served on the Maine Citizens for Historic Preservation and the City of Bangor Historic Preservation Commission. Joan loved music and derived great pleasure from her work with the Bangor Symphony, Symphony Women, and Opera New England. In 1981, in recognition of her extensive volunteerism, she was presented with the Jefferson Award for Public Service. She was a member of the Shakespeare Club and PEO Sisterhood Chapter B, of Bangor.
Joan was a voracious reader. She read newspapers daily and further informed her knowledge of world events through her reading of history, poetry, and literature. Her knowledge and interests led to wide-ranging discussions with friends and family. All benefited from her observations, and she cherished these interactions, as did we all.
Joan was predeceased by Dr. John Woodcock in 1978, and by her second husband, Dr. Warren "JP" Nestler, in 2004. In addition, she was predeceased by her parents; and her siblings, George, William, Julia Vischer, and Michael. She is survived by her seven children, Mary Kietzman (William), Emily Templeton (John), Julia Ervin (Robert), John, Jr. (Beverly), Timothy (Carol), Elizabeth, and Andrew (Lynne Ide). She is also survived by 18 grandchildren, Daniel Kietzman, Joan Rovito (Nick), John Templeton (Lauren), Elizabeth Templeton Martin (Charles), Kenneth Templeton (Mary Pat), William Templeton (Elizabeth), Robert Ervin, Joseph Ervin (Rachel), Margaret Ervin Welch (Matthew), John Woodcock III (Elizabeth), Patrick Woodcock (Robin), Christopher Woodcock, Katherine Woodcock (Eric Peterson), Timothy Woodcock Jr. (Kristina Alnes), Eliza Woodcock, Alden Woodcock, Jayne Seguin (Matthew), and Jenny Woodcock; 19 great-grandchildren, Allison, Fae, Sara, and Claire Templeton, Daniel and John Martin, Aster and Maura Templeton, Amelia and Harrison Ervin, Penelope Welch, Oliver and Willa Woodcock, Crosby and Caroline Woodcock, Jasper and Nora Alnes, and Sophia and Halle Seguin; and 24 beloved nieces and nephews.
The family sends its appreciation for the kind and compassionate care by the staff at Ross Manor and the staff from St. Joseph Hospice.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday, February 26, 2024, at St. Paul the Apostle Parish, St. John's Catholic Church, 217 York Street, Bangor. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments at the Family Reception Center of Brookings-Smith, 163 Center St., Bangor, immediately following the Mass. The Rite of Committal will be prayed at Mt. Hope Cemetery, Bangor, in the spring. Those who wish to remember Joan in a special way, may make gifts in her memory to the Hill House Restoration Project, Bangor Historical Society, 159 Union Street, Bangor, ME 04401, the Woodcock Family Scholarship, Bowdoin College, Office of Development, 4100 College Station, Brunswick, ME 04011-8432, or to a charity or organization of your choice. Condolences to the family may be expressed at BrookingsSmith.com.