Joan Miriam Kessler's Obituary
Joan Miriam Kessler was a wife to Fred, a mother to Fran (Israel), Andy (Nancy) and Rachel (Seth), a grandmother to Don (Corie), Ben, Kyle, Kurt, Ryan, Brett, Solomon and Abby, and a great-grandmother to Adeline and Ruby.
Joan was born on July 22, 1933 to Dave and Besse Keiles in the Bronx, NY. Her nine-year-old sister Ruth, was thrilled to have a little sister. She lived with her parents, sister and grandmother on Kossuth Avenue in the Bronx.
She met Frederick Kessler in October of 1950 on a blind date – she was a senior at Walton High School in the Bronx, and he was from Brooklyn. Too far, they both agreed. They met again after Joan enrolled at the City College of New York. Fred proposed in 1953 and they were married on May 2, 1954 just before Joan graduated.
In 1955, Fred joined the Navy and was sent to a naval base in Yokosuka, Japan and Joan took off on a long adventure. Their daughter Fran was born in Japan. They returned to Brooklyn in May of 1958 and son Andrew was born.
They lived in Silver Spring, Maryland and then in 1961, they moved to Easton, Pennsylvania. Daughter Rachel was born in Easton in 1963. Later that year, Joan and Fred moved to 31 Shady Lane in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They stayed there for 37 years. The family enjoyed camping and for some reason, while camping, it always rained on Joan’s birthday, July 22, but not for long.
Joan worked as a Learning Disabilities Teacher-Consultant for the Bridgewater Raritan school system, retiring in 1999. Joan and Fred started spending more time in Florida until moving full time to Boynton Beach in 2001.
After a trip to Israel with the entire family for the month of August 1973, Joan and Fred had a passion for Israel, visiting a dozen or more times over the years. Joan has been involved in charity work, especially raising money for the Papanicolauo Cancer Research Group. Joan loved travel, tennis and doting on her grandchildren, especially her great-granddaughters.
What’s your fondest memory of Joan?
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