Joan Cecelia Akins

Joan Cecelia (Coomes) Akins passed away at 84 years of age due to respiratory infection which began around Resurrection Sunday. In her last hours on Earth, she enjoyed the presence of loved ones gathered about her in Aultman Hospital of Canton, Ohio.

Born to William Wakefield Coomes and Mary Elizabeth (Shircliffe) Coomes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and also raised in Suffield, Ohio and Middlebranch, Ohio, Joan had many siblings, all from one mother and father. Of the twenty-five conceived children, seven were miscarried before birth, five passed away in early childhood and thirteen reached adulthood. Of the eighteen siblings which achieved birth, Joan was the sixteenth child born. All of her siblings had passed away before Joan did. The most recent was her older brother, “Buddy” Coomes, who passed away earlier this year in New Mexico.

On 1957 MAR 2, Joan’s mother’s 59 ^th birthday, Joan married her husband for life, Thomas Merlin Akins (Sr) of Stow, Ohio. They celebrated Holy Matrimony for sixty-one years and nine months before she was widowed in December of 2018.

Joan is survived by five sons, John, Thomas Jr., Tracy, Troy and Tim; many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Helen Coomes, Pamella Coomes and Mary Ann Coomes; brother-in-law, Terry (and Sharon) Akins; and many nephews and nieces.

Joan is preceded in death by her parents, her siblings, her husband, both of her daughters, Joanie and Jann, and some nieces and nephews.

In keeping with Joan’s wishes, her body has been donated to the Ohio State University Body Donor Program for science research and education. Memorial donations may be made to c4iamerica.com and Samaritan’s Purse, P. O. Box 3000, Boone, NC 28607.

Joan’s Memorial Service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 633 N. Main St., Uhrichsville, OH  44683 on Saturday, May 21 ^st at 1 o’clock p.m., followed by a fellowship dinner in the church basement.