Joan Carol Price Ratliff

Joan Carol Ratliff (née Price), 91, passed away peacefully on August 25, 2024 at Goodwin House Alexandria after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in May. She was born in Washington, D.C. on September 18, 1932 to Joseph and Agnes Price (née Norman) and graduated from Anacostia High School. She also graduated from the University of Corpus Christi, now part of Texas A&M University, before earning a Masters of Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

After working with college students in New Mexico, she married Joseph Ratliff in 1960. They and their children lived in Maryland, the Philippines, Okinawa, Texas, and North Carolina, as part of his 30-year Air Force career and subsequent calling to serve as one of the ministers at First Baptist Church, Greensboro, NC. Along the way, Joan was always very involved in her local churches, teaching Sunday School and working with youth, single adults, and international students (many of whom became lifelong friends and a part of the family, including Tony and Rafaela Mezneric (and their children Roberto and Mikhaela, who called Joan abuela), Sailaja Sajjala, and Apple Vallabha.

Joan loved traveling, card games, cooking for friends and family, and playing the piano and hand bells. Very creative, her paintings and ceramic pieces will be treasured by her family. In 2021, after being diagnosed with dementia, Joan moved from Greensboro to Alexandria, Virginia, to be closer to her daughter.

Joan is survived by her daughter Gerri and her husband Len Gradowski; her son Stephen and his wife Paula; five grandchildren and step-grandchildren, William and wife Dorothy, Hannah (Ryan) and husband Rob, Lauren Gradowski, Jennifer Gradowski, Lindsey Gradowski, and Lindsey's fiancé Jackson Neme; and three great-grandchildren Delaney, Kennedy, and Patrick Ryan. Her beloved Joe passed away in 2009.

Donations may be made to the Goodwin Living Hospice Program. Joan will be buried next to Joe in Arlington National Cemetery. A graveside service will be scheduled at a later date.