The obituary, shown below, was copied from
https://www.publicopiniononline.com/obituaries/mpa098148
(it may or may not still be available there)
Joan Scarlett Winebrenner
Joan Scarlett Winebrenner, 82, passed away on Thursday, December 15, 2022 in McLean, Virginia in the home of her son and his family. With her family close by, she peacefully succumbed to the pancreatic cancer that she had been fighting for the past three months. Joan was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania on November 20, 1940 to Anne Exton Stone and William Joseph Scarlett. The eldest of four children, Joan was a loving and generous older sister who was revered by her younger siblings Elsie, George, and Elizabeth. The family home was Rockinghorn, a beautiful farm that the family adored. Joan attended Kennett Consolidated Schools through ninth grade and then attended the George School in Bucks County, PA until her graduation in 1958. An ardent Phillies fan, she would go into Philadelphia to cheer on Richie Ashburn in person as often as she could. Also a passionate Nittany Lions fan, Joan fostered dedication to these two teams with her own children and grandchildren. Oh how we all hoped for a World Series Championship for her this fall! With her extended family and many Kennett friends, Joan spent part of each summer “down the shore” in Ocean City, New Jersey. The summer of her George School graduation, she met the love of her life, Wirt Shriver Winebrenner Jr. of Hanover, PA. The two continued their courtship in the Boston area while Joan attended Endicott Junior College in Waverly, Massachusetts, and Wirt attended law school. She graduated in 1960 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Joan and Wirt were married that June and began their married life in Boston, where Joan enjoyed her work as a librarian in the Harvard Law Library. During Wirt’s early law career in Hanover, PA, Joan began her lifelong calling to be the best mother in the world with the birth of her first two children, Anne and Wirt III (Peter). In 1965 the family embarked on a new career and life at Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, PA, and Joan and Wirt welcomed their third child, Jonathan. During their 30+ year affiliation with Mercersburg Academy, while Wirt worked as an administrator, English teacher and college counselor, Joan fostered a strong sense of community with everything she did. She was a role model for other faculty wives and a nurturing guide to generations of teenagers. It was second nature to her to be a listening ear and an affirming presence no matter what joys or challenges the youth were going through. She cooked countless meals for student clubs and birthdays, opened her home to colleagues, students, and their families from near and far, took charge of decorating the school Chapel each December for the Christmas Candlelight Service, sang in the Chapel Choir, and was a proud member of the Mercersburg Area Community Chorus. It was also at Mercersburg that Joan pursued a career that was dear to her heart, serving as a teacher and ultimately director of the Mercersburg Area Preschool in Lemasters, PA. During her 17 years with the school, she was instrumental in moving it to a new location, growing the enrollment and staff, and transforming the institution into a beacon of early childhood education. Working from before sun-up until long after sundown, Joan brought vision, dedication, and love to more than 600 Mercersburg area preschoolers and their families, giving the children an incredible foundation to their subsequent education. In 1994 Joan’s first grandchildren arrived, and thus Joan became Nana. In the following years, Shriver, Mary Kate, Madeleine, Maxwell and, finally, Annie would cherish the many occasions they spent assisting her with cooking and baking, especially around Thanksgiving; going for walks, playing on the beach, trying to beat her at games, and doing jigsaw puzzles. Most of all, beyond all other things, the advice, counsel, and unqualified support that Nana gave each of them will be sorely missed but always honored. In 1996 Joan and Wirt moved to Lewisburg, West Virginia. They bought their first house on Highland Circle in Lewisburg, where Joan became a center of neighborhood life and enjoyed wonderful camaraderie with a group of friends who provided her constant love and joy. She took great pride in the care of their home, particularly the yard and gardens, where she waged an endless war against the moles in the summer and the fallen leaves every autumn. Joan was an avid reader, an incredible cook and (surprisingly) a wickedly competitive ping pong player. She was a great lover of dogs throughout her entire life and enjoyed nothing more than long dog walks in the beautiful places she lived. Later in her life, she picked up watercolor painting and brightened spirits of many friends and loved ones with her painted greeting cards, landscapes, and portraits. Most of all, Joan’s passionate and enduring pastime was keeping in touch with family and a wide circle of friends. She had the knack for establishing trusted friendships wherever she moved or worked; she excelled at maintaining old bonds even as she constantly added new ones. Quiet and unassuming, with her cheery, ready humor; sharp, dry wit, and unfailingly compassionate insights, Joan was a bright spirit in the lives of so many. Joan is survived by her husband of 62 years, Wirt, her daughter Anne (Dale), her sons Peter and Jonathan (Rebecca), her grandchildren Shriver, Mary Katherine, Madeleine, Maxwell and Annie, her sister Elsie Anne Scarlett Gerard, and many other family and extended family including Lisa Winebrenner, Dorothy Scarlett and Carol Smith. She is preceded in death by her parents, her sister Elizabeth and brother George. The family looks forward to celebrating her life at a memorial service at a later date.
Posted online on December 29, 2022
Published in Public Opinion