Joan Dias

Joan was born in Bankura (West Bengal) on the 24th of February 1919 and expired on the 1st of February 1999. She was the daughter of Mr. J. Vas - the first Goan ICS Officer and Mrs. M. Vas. She passed the B.A. (Hons.) in French and English securing a first class in 1939 and was awarded the Alliance Francaise Medal for standing first in French in the B.A. She had varied interests. She distinguished herself in music, scoring well in the Trinity College Licentiate and Associate Examinations for Piano.

In 1939 she married Mr. A.L. Dias, ICS (Retd) and accompanied him on all his postings in ICS and endeared herself everywhere by her charm and graciousness. She took a keen interest in social welfare, particularly during the seven years when her husband was Governor of West Bengal. There Joan came under the spell of Mother Teresa and actively supported her work in Sishu Bhavan, the Home for the Aged and the Home for Leprosy patients. She started the Spastics in Calcutta and assisted in setting up a Home for the Mentally Retarded. In Mumbai, she actively campaigned for help to women drug addicts.

Source: St. Xavier's College Magazine, Mumbai (1999)