The world lost a beloved daughter, sister, aunt, wife and friend, while heaven gained a saint, when Joan Spevak left this earth peacefully on Dec. 6 — after celebrating her 90th birthday with gusto three days earlier.
Joan Marie Spevak was born on Dec. 3, 1935, in Chicago to Elsie Jirkovsky Spevak and Frank Spevak. Her grandparents were Anna Vlk Spevak and Oldrich Spevak and Emma Horky Jirkovsky and John Jirkovsky, all of whom had emigrated from Bohemia, a province in what is now the Czech Republic. Joan was very proud of her Czech heritage.
She grew up in Berwyn, IL, and attended St. Mary of Celle Catholic Church, a Benedictine parish, where she excelled as a student and helper to the nuns and priests there. She attended Nazareth Academy in LaGrange, IL, where she continued to excel as a student and performed in theatrical productions.
After high school, Joan felt a call to join the Benedictine Sisters, whose motherhouse was in Lisle, IL. After her postulancy she received the name Sister Maria Celle, in honor of her parish and the shrine of Mariazell in Austria.
As Sister Maria Celle, she was assigned to teach grade school, first in her parish of St. Mary of Celle, and then in parishes in Wichita Falls, TX; Joliet, IL; Haugen, WI; and Lisle, IL. While she was a nun, she earned her B.A. and M.A. from Depaul University.
After 13 years as a Benedictine sister, Joan felt a call to continue to teach as a lay person. She taught in Catholic grade schools in Los Angeles and then in Port Townsend, WA. While in Washington, she met the love of her life, Lester Leo Laurence Leahy, whom she married in 1974 and remained married in his sickness and health until he died in 2005.
Soon after Les’s death, her brother Frank was diagnosed with ALS, and Joan went to live with him in Ohio for several years before they both came to California in 2014, Frank to the Dos Palos Skilled Nursing Facility and Joan to Los Banos.
In Los Banos Joan became an active part of St. Joseph’s Parish, where she taught adult religious instruction and, along with Kurt Silva, started a multi-generational choir, which is still going strong today. She connected with all the priests, deacons and seminarians in the parish and helped, as she said, in their formation.
In the last few years of her earthly life, Joan had a number of medical problems which caused her a good deal of pain. In 2023 she moved into the New Bethany Skilled Nursing Facility. In 2025, at age 89, her medical problems increased. Her earthly death was in many ways a relief from her suffering.
Joan had many virtues. At the top of the list was her faith. She had a tremendous faith in the Lord (especially the Infant of Prague) and an intense devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Benedict and the Holy Angels, who (it is believed) carried her straight to heaven.
Joan was a terrific sister to her siblings Marianne, Frank and John Spevak and a wonderful aunt to her nieces and nephews. She was also a great friend. Wherever she went, she was beloved by the many friends she had, including Regina Silveira and Carolyn Galvan in Los Banos, who spent many hours with her in New Bethany. Joan brightened the lives of all who knew her. She will be deeply, deeply missed.
Joan was also a talented cook and baker and especially enjoyed making dishes and pastries, including sour cream gravy chicken and dumplings, as well as kolachki, from her Czech heritage. She loved the trip she organized for her two brothers and herself to the Czech Republic, where she visited the places where her grandparents lived and enjoyed Czech meals.
Joan is preceded in death by her parents, Elsie and Frank Spevak; her siblings, Marianne Spevak and Frank Spevak, Jr.; and her husband, Les Leahy.
She is survived by her brother John (Sandra) Spevak and by her five nieces and nephews, Frank (Joan) Spevak III, Edward (Mary) Spevak, Ginny (Eduardo) Scheitt, Michael (Karen) Spevak, and Megan (Eric) Eisenhard and her many grand nieces and nephews. She loved them all.
Services for Joan will be on Monday, Dec. 29, at St. Joseph’s Church, with a Rosary at 10 a.m. and a Mass of the Resurrection at 10:30 a.m.In lieu of flowers donations can be made to St. Joseph’s Church, 1621 Center Ave., Los Banos, CA 93635.
Her family wishes to thank the caring nurses and aides at New Bethany Residential Care who showed kindness and compassion to Joan (especially in her last days) and to Father John Schmoll, who visited Joan often, bringing the sacraments as well as cheer and comfort to her
