Joan MacKay Brown, 84, died March 9 at the Windemere Nursing Facility in Oak Bluffs. Born in Rochester, N.Y., she attended Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and graduate school at the University of Toronto, Canada. She was director of occupational therapy at the Grenfell Medical Mission in Labrador. Later, she was employed as a medical secretary and case manager with the Central New York Inter-religious Council. She would have been 85 on March 15.

A prolific poet, Joan won several awards for her clever and witty verses. She had a penchant for words and an imagination that personified her personality. She will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

She is survived by her son, Jeffrey MacKay Brown, his wife, Karen, and grandchildren Matthew and Allison of Vineyard Haven; her sister Janet M. Kittley and husband, Bill, of Rochester, Minn.; sister in law Barbara MacKay of East Dennis; nieces and nephews Mel and Laura MacKay and children Gordon, Scout and Tim of Bangor, Maine; Jack MacKay of Putney, Vt.; Al and Susan Utesch and children Kelly and Adam of Rochester, Minn.; and Wayne and Beth Fieck and son Colin of Rochester, Minn. She is predeceased by her brother, Melville G. MacKay, former president of Edgartown National Bank.

Cremation services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.