|
 “…the
tempo slowed, the brass and winds softened and died down, strings
turned quiet and the tympani sounded their last as the curtains
were drawn…” Thus, it is, following a long, slow decline that
Joan passed away Thursday, June 2, 2011, at her home in Willow
Valley Retirement Community, Lancaster County.
Born in
Harrisburg, PA, on February 25, 1931, Joan Ruth was the daughter
of the late Harvey Beshore Bair and Ruth Esther Lay Bair. She
later became the wife of Richard Miller Herman whom she married on
April 17, 1954.
Joan graduated
from Lebanon Valley College in 1953 with a Bachelor’s degree in
Music Education. Music had been her major interest and avocation
with a concentration in stringed instruments, leading to
performing as a violist with the Harrisburg Symphony while in high
school and college and in later years with the Newark, Delaware,
and Dover, Delaware, symphonies. Professionally, she devoted much
of her adult life to teaching in elementary school in Harrisburg
and in New Castle County, Delaware, where she and her husband
resided for over 30 years.
Most of her
professional interest and activity was in bringing very young
students into the enjoyment and performance of music, with
emphasis on such techniques as the ‘Suzuki Method’ for learning to
play stringed instruments. She engaged in much of this work in
her later career in the Delaware schools. Joan also enjoyed very
much her playing with small groups and was a violist with several
string quartets and ensembles in both Delaware and Lancaster.
Both Joan and
her husband were dedicated fans of classical music in many forms
and participated in church choirs and other choral groups
throughout their married years. Joan also has served as a
volunteer in meeting with handicapped seniors and often reading to
the sight-disadvantaged.
Joan and her
husband belonged to the Presbyterian Church (USA) for many years
starting with the First Church of Anniston, Alabama, in 1956,
continuing with the Hanover and Red Clay Creek Churches of
Wilmington, Delaware (1957-2003), and currently with Highland
Presbyterian Church of Lancaster.
Joan is
survived by her husband, Richard, their three children, Gregory
Herman and his wife Trudy of Fort Collins, Colorado, Pamela Sue
Sachs and her husband Jeffery of Foster City, California, and
Kristen Jeanne Roland and her husband, Jonathan of Perry Hall,
Maryland. She has also enjoyed very much her nine grandchildren,
Rebecca Herman, Kyle Herman, Jay Herman, Kathryn Sachs, Kelsey
Sachs, Darlene Roland, and brothers Jonathan, David and Daniel
Roland. Joan also is survived by her twin sister, Jean Leathers
of Findlay, Ohio, and a niece, Kathleen Leathers Rodabaugh also of
Ohio.
A Memorial
Service will be held on Friday, June 17, 2011 in the Thomas
Auditorium of Willow Valley Lakes Manor, 300 Willow Valley Lakes
Drive in Willow Street, PA starting at 1:00 pm. Friends may
gather to pay respects to the family following the service.
Interment will be private in the Indiantown Gap National
Cemetery.
The family
wishes to express its appreciation to the many who have taken such
very good care of Joan during her last illness – many doctors and
members of the nursing staffs of hospitals and Willow Valley
health care centers have often gone ‘the extra mile’ for Joan and
have made her final months and days pleasant and comfortable.
Memorial contributions may be made in Joan’s memory to personal
charitable causes or to the Capital Fund of Highland Presbyterian
Church, 500 E. Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA, 17601. To send the
family an online condolence, please visit SnyderFuneralHome.com.
Charles F. Snyder Funeral Home & Crematory 717-872-5041 |
