RICHFIELD SPRINGS - Joan Forbes Brown, 69, of River Street passed away peacefully early Friday morning, November 11, 2011 in Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown. Joan was born on December 22, 1942 in the town of Jay a daughter to the late Donald and Dorothy Sprague Forbes. She was raised on the family farm on East Hill in Cherry Valley and a graduate of Cherry Valley High School. On January 10, 1962 she married Raymond Everett Brown in East Springfield a loving union of 34 years, which consisted of laughter, close friends, and the commitment of until death do us apart, until he passed away in 1996. She was very well known in the community as the Manager of the Busy Bee then later Red Apple Convenience Store in Richfield Springs for twenty six years. As the store manager Joan, mentored and enriched the lives of many of her young employees. Upon her retiring from the store in 2004, Joan wanted to contribute to the community by becoming a home health aide helping people in their later years. She would drive around the countryside in rain, sleet or snow to provide loving care to her clients. She considered her work to be a blessing. Surviving her are two sons, Steven Donald Brown of Oswego and Thomas Michael Brown of Miami, Florida several nieces, nephews and cousins and her longtime very special friend Myron Doc Evans. She was preceded in death by a son Scott Raymond Brown a daughter Janice Brown and two brothers Donald and John Henry Forbes. Funeral service will be on Wednesday at 7:00 pm in J. Seaton McGrath Funeral Home, 40 West James Street, Richfield Springs with the Reverend Alan Miller officiating. Calling hours will be Wednesday from 4:00 until 7:00 pm in the funeral home. Expressions of sympathy in her memory may be made in donations to the Herkimer County Humane Society envelopes will be available in the funeral home.