- Date Of Birth: November 22, 1922
- Date Of Death: October 25, 2018
- State: New Jersey
Joan Hammond Underkuffler completed her journey in this life on October 25, 2018 in Farmington, Maine. She was cheerful and gracious throughout her final months and at the moment of her departure for the next life.
Joan was born on November 22, 1922 in Auburn, Maine. She was born on a small family dairy farm on Hardscrabble Road, the second of seven children. She was the daughter of Marjorie Thomas Hammond of Sumner, Maine and Oswald Kenric Hammond of Auburn, Maine. With the loss of her father to pneumonia when she was twelve, Joan assumed the responsibilities of a grown-up as the family struggled through the Great Depression.
Joan was taught at home by her father’s mother, as were her siblings, until the seventh grade. She was then able to attend Webster Junior High School in Auburn. She graduated from Edward Little High School as co-salutatorian in 1940, and received a scholarship to Bates College in Lewiston. She graduated from Bates in 1944.
After graduation from college, Joan took a job as a social worker in a children’s home in Bangor, Maine. She then worked as a social worker in Easton, Pennsylvania. It was there that she met her husband, Frank Walter Underkuffler, who was in Easton studying at Lafayette College after serving in the Marine Corps in World War II. The night they met on a double date, Frank wrote in his diary, “Had dinner with Joan, a wonderful girl. My future wife, I hope.” They were married in 1945 and moved to Haddonfield, New Jersey, which was near the town where Frank grew up.
Joan and Frank lived in Haddonfield, and then Haddon Heights, New Jersey, Frank’s hometown for many years. It was there that their three children (Fran, Laura and Frank) were born. Joan later obtained a Master’s Degree in Education at Rutgers University and taught first grade in Barrington, New Jersey. She often talked about how she loved working with small children, particularly those who were challenged by perceptual and other learning disabilities. She deeply believed that education was one of the purest joys in life, and she found her calling in helping children discover the truth.
Upon the death of her husband in 1987, Joan decided to return to the place of her roots and moved back to Maine. She lived in Farmington for almost thirty years, working for her church, other community organizations, and the social service causes of her retired teachers’ organization in Maine. She also spent hours with her family and grew magnificent dahlias for the Franklin County Fair.
Although two near-fatal bouts with rheumatic fever, at ages 8 and 37, permanently damaged her heart, her careful diet and determined exercise regimen brought her back both times, and she surprised everyone by nearly reaching her ninety-seventh year. For her family, Joan provided the gravitational center of strength, tolerance, unconditional love and wisdom that taught us how to live well and for others. The patience that she extended to the needs of her grandchildren and grandpets was so legendary that there was never a question of anything but warmth and forgiveness. She immeasurably enriched all of our lives and we will all miss her greatly.
Joan was predeceased by her parents; her brother, George Simms Hammond and by her sisters, Rosemund Hammond Morrill, Alice Hammond Humes and Kathryn Hammond Field. She is survived by her brother, Oswyn Kenric Hammond of Medway, MA and her sister Esther Hammond Cooper of Sumner, ME. She is also survived by her children: Frances Underkuffler Mochida and her husband, Shigeru of Princeton, NJ, Laura Simms Underkuffler and her husband, David Nowlin of Portland, ME and Frank Metz Underkuffler and his wife, LuAnn Yetter of Farmington, ME; grandchildren: Nathaniel Underkuffler and his wife, Justina Huddleston of Van Nuys, CA, Wilson Underkuffler and his wife, Rebekah Cumpsty of Ogden, UT, Katharine Knight and her husband Anthony Knight of El Paso, TX and Anna Freund of Northampton, MA.
Joan H.
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