Joan Frances Kenirey, nee Elser, passed away peacefully after a long illness on February 20th, 2025 at the age of 78.

Joan was born and raised in Hoboken. She and her husband Mike raised their twins, Michael and Coleen, in Hoboken and the twins attended grammar school at Our Lady of Grace.

Joan was a graduate of Hoboken High School, where she later worked as an assistant to the principal. Joan held various other positions for the city of Hoboken, working in the Water Department and the Board of Health, and retiring as the city’s registrar of vital statistics.

A great lover of good food and a generous friend, Joan would often share her Sunday gravy and meatballs or her homemade Irish soda bread with neighbors. She had a great sense of humor and also appreciated more unexpected entertainment, enjoying Golden Girls reruns as well as science fiction, horror and action movies. Joan enjoyed visiting Mike and Margo in Georgia and tending to their garden and their chickens. She took great pride in her two grandchildren, Rebecca and Jason.

Joan was predeceased by her husband Mike, who was a Hoboken police officer, as well as by her parents William and Margaret Elser (nee Broderick), both lifelong residents of Hoboken.

She will live forever in the hearts of her twins, Coleen Cook, wife of Jason; and Michael, husband of Margo; as well as her grandchildren Jason and Rebecca. Joan will be dearly missed by her beloved sister Patricia Coda, her brother-in-law Bob Coda and her dear brother Bill Elser.

In lieu of flowers, her family would appreciate donations in Joan’s name to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at mskcc.org or Morristown Medical Center at f4mmc.org.

The Funeral Mass will offered at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church on February 24th, 2025 at 10 am.

Visitation will take place at Failla-McKnight Memorial Home on February 23rd, 2025 at 2 pm-6pm.

Entombment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ