Joan was born on January 12, 1933 in Brooklyn NY to the late Howard Bumsted Maxon and Alice Gehrken Maxon.
She is proceeded in death by her sister, Marilyn Arnott, and her loving husband of 46 years, George E. Pickett, Jr., whom she met on a blind date when he was a student at North Carolina State University.
Joan was devoted to her family and supported their every endeavor. Joan lived in Tokyo, Japan following George’s deployment in the Korean War and later in Newberry, SC, Charleston, SC and Raleigh during George’s college basketball coaching career. After George left coaching in 1962, Joan and George together built a successful electrical manufacturer’s representative business which has been in business 58 years and is currently owned and managed by her son Howard.
Joan is survived by her 3 children Howard C. Pickett of Cary; Cathy Pickett Lamb (Andrew) of Burlington and Donnie Pickett (Wynn) of Charlotte as well as 6 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
A celebration of Joan’s life will be held at Hayes Barton United Methodist Church, 2209 Fairview Road in Raleigh on Wednesday October 23rd at 1:00 pm. The family will receive friends prior to the funeral beginning at noon. Interment will be held at Raleigh Memorial Park in a graveside service for the family.
The family would like to thank the staff of the Rosewood Health Center for their devoted and loving care for Joan over the last 5 years. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601 or Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607.
Arrangements by Brown-Wynne, 300 Saint Mary's Street, Raleigh.