Joan A Dutter

Joan Anascavage Dutter, age 76, passed away peacefully with family early Sunday morning, January 10, 2021 after a hard-fought battle with cancer. She was born in Ridley Park, PA, April 18, 1944, to the late Walter and Josephine Anascavage. Joan grew up in Shamokin, PA and graduated from Coal Township High School in 1962. In 1965, she graduated from The Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry after just three years. In the fall of 1965, she married Wilbert A. Dutter of Pottsville, PA before heading to the University of Maryland to study analytical chemistry. When her husband received his Army orders to report to Mannheim, Germany, she left the University of Maryland and headed out for the first of their many adventures. Her first job was working in the education center in Mannheim. When her husband went to Vietnam, Joan decided to pursue her teaching credentials at Bloomsburg Teachers College in Pennsylvania and started her lifelong love of teaching as a full-time math teacher at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania. Joan left her career to raise three daughters for the next 10 years living in Virginia, Maryland and Izmir, Turkey. In 1978, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri where she went back to teaching Chemistry, Physics and Math at John F. Kennedy Catholic High School in Manchester, Missouri. Three years later, the family moved to Frankfurt, Germany where she taught Physics from 1981-1985 at Frankfurt American High School. The pinnacle of her career was Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia where she predominately taught Physics from 1985-2012 and served as the science department chair for many years. Joan was instrumental in expanding AP science courses at Walton High School which led to her receiving the Siemans AP Teachers Award. She coached students in Physics Bowl and Science Olympiad competitions and sponsored the Science club. Her teams won many awards placing in regional, state and national competitions. She was passionate about evolving her classroom experience and was a pioneer of implementing technology in the classroom. She shared her love of Physics by inspiring her students, mentoring colleagues, and sharing her innovative ideas with other educators in regional and national forums. After “retirement”, she came back to teach a couple AP courses for another 5 years until 2019. During her career, she continued to advance her own education achieving a Master of Science degree in Management from Troy State University and completing the education requirements for a PhD in science education from Georgia State University. Joan is survived by her three daughters and sons-in-laws, Elisabeth and Reed Goodwin of Marietta, GA; Kristen and Brent Barfield of Kennesaw, GA; and Meredith and Stephen Brennan of Union, Kentucky and seven grandchildren, Reston and Ella Goodwin; Madison, Kaden, and Seth Barfield; Conor and Ryan Brennan. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband. Visitation will be at 1:00pm at H.M. Patterson & Son - Canton Hill Chapel, Marietta, GA followed by a memorial service at 2:00pm. There will be an online slide show and place to send condolences at hmpattersoncantonhill.com. Her final resting place will be in Arlington National Cemetery with Will. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to The DASH Families Foundation Inc., an organization created by Will and Joan Dutter to fund scholarships and research grants for students in economically disadvantaged regions. Memorial donations to The DASH Families Foundation can be mailed to Fifth Third Bank, 4209 Rowell Road, Marietta, GA 30062.