Joan Louise Manhardt

Joan Louise Manhardt (nee Lapisardi) died at her home in Arlington, Virginia on January 5, 2023. Joan was born on May 9, 1930, in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York, and remained a New Yorker most of her life. The daughter of Evelyn and Samuel Lapisardi, Joan moved to Baldwin Long Island at the age of seven. She attended St. Agnes Cathedral School in Rockville Center, N.Y, later moved to Massapequa, N.Y and was a member of the Seton Hall High School Class of 1948. Joan graduated from Seton Hall’s original four bungalow campus near the Great South Bay in Patchogue and remained close to Seton Hall schoolmates throughout her life.

Joan met her husband, Frank R. Manhardt, while attending Buffalo State Teacher’s College and the couple were married on February 23, 1952, at the Church of St. William the Abbot in Seaford, N.Y. Their reception was held at the Great South Bay Riviera, Nassau Shores, in Massapequa. Joan and Frank began married life on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Shortly thereafter, Frank entered the United States Marine Corps and the couple lived in several locations until Frank was discharged from the Service in 1954. Joan and Frank returned to Long Island later that year where Frank began his teaching career in earnest and they began to raise a family.

Joan and Frank eventually moved to Brightwaters, Long Island, where they lived for several year at 487 Lombardy Boulevard until they moved, in 1963, to their long time home at 40 Hiawatha Drive. Their children, Richard, Maryanne, Kirk and Joan attended St. Patrick’s Elementary School in Bay Shore where Joan was an active volunteer with a special focus upon the school’s library.

In 1972, Joan reenterd the workforce, joining the staff of a new Internal Revenue Service facility in Holtsville, N.Y. Over 14 year career, Joan took multiple college-sponsored accounting courses and advanced professionally in a rewarding career. She took particular pride in her final assignment handling high profile congressional inquiries for taxpayer constituents.

Upon retirement, Joan and Frank travelled extensively, both to visit family and to see the world. Throughout this time, Joan provided care and support to own parents, Sam and Ev, as they aged, ultimately welcoming her Mom into the Brightwaters home. Always active, Joan joined Frank as a member of the Bay Shore Historical Society, the Music Lovers Club and the Marconi Lodge of the Sons of Italy. Joan served on the board of several organizations and ran the historical society’s gift shop for many years.

In 2017, Joan began a new life at the Jefferson in Arlington, Va. Upon Frank’s passing in 2018, Joan blossomed among a new community of dear friends. Blind as a result of macular degeneration for more than 20 years, Joan thrived in independent living with the support of her children. She particularly cherished Monday Meditation, Thursday Sports Talk, and trips to hear the Washington’s Men’s Camerata, including a holiday show just weeks before her passing.

Joan is remembered for her fashion style, her attention to accessorizing, her love of social contact, her love of oceans and bays and her devotion to her children. She treasured her friendships and dinners at the Jefferson and endured the isolation of the Covid 19 pandemic with a determination to welcome the reopening of activities.

Joan was predeceased by her husband, Frank, her parents, and her sister, Evelyn. She is survived by her brother, Fred Lapisardi, their children, their spouses, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren.