Joan Jacoby

Joan Fitzpatrick Jacoby died peacefully on September 11, 2021 with her daughters at her side, and her son on his way. She was born on May 14, 1927 in Long Island, New York. Joan’s mother was raised in Manhattan, and her father grew up in upstate New York, but during the depression, the family had to leave their beloved New York when her father, an engineer, was able to secure a job helping design a new factory near Narrows, a small town in Virginia.  The family missed New York, but came to love living in the serene beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Joan thrived at Narrows High School where she was involved in plays, the school paper, and where she became senior class president and salutatorian.  After high school, Joan enrolled at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and graduated with a degree in chemistry in 1947. Following graduation, Joan took a job with DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware.

She met her husband, Charles Jacoby, in the dining car of a train. Joan was taken with the tall man in his army officer’s uniform and they soon married. During their sixty years of marriage, Charles and Joan lived in Ohio View, Pennsylvania and Warren, Ohio, and later in Toledo, Ohio, near one of their daughters. Joan stopped working to become a full time mother to their three children, who remained devoted to her throughout her life.

After raising her children, Joan went back to school to earn her master’s degree in counseling. She went to work at Scope Senior Center in Warren where she found great satisfaction in advocating for the elderly. During their retirement, Joan and Charles traveled all over the world and enjoyed sailing and golf. Joan had a rich circle of friends and loved her bridge and book clubs.  She was a talented painter and an extraordinary writer, but she will be remembered most fondly for her kindness, empathy, integrity, humor, and her love and devotion to her family and friends.

                Joan is survived by her daughters Linda (Fitzhugh) Turner and Jennifer (Joseph) Dawson, her son William (Rebecca) Jacoby, her grandchildren Julia Staples, Abigail Sztein, Emily Moran, Patrick Dawson, Charles Jacoby, II, and Rachel Dawson, and her great-grandchildren, Roman Sztein and Liam Moran. Remembering her love for them, and her many truly witty remarks and stories, will sustain her family and make them laugh forever.

                The family truly and deeply appreciated all the caregivers who helped Joan in her later years, and the kind assistance of Ohio Living Hospice. The family held a private memorial service at Joan’s favorite place – the ocean.

                Memorial donations may be made to Doctors Without Borders, or a charity of the donor’s choice.  

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