Joan King Loewenthal

Joan was born on May 29, 1935, in Mt. Vernon, NY, to David and Sally (Becker) King. She had a happy childhood, filled with memorable summer camp adventures, musicals in which she sang, and friends with whom she kept in touch nearly her whole life.

After graduating high school, she accompanied a friend on a visit to Cornell, to go on a blind date with Robert (Bob) Loewenthal, a student there. They hit it off, though they were often physically separated, as Joan attended the University of Michigan. In 1954, they got married, and drove down to Miami, Florida, to start their new lives. They would remain married until Bob passed away in 2013.

They had three sons, and were loving and attentive parents, yet managed to pursue their own varied interests as well. Joan joined Sweet Adelines, where she performed barbershop harmony to appreciative audiences throughout the Southeast. In 1966, she appeared in two episodes of The Jackie Gleason Show, as a temporary member of the barbershop quartet, the “Hurricane Honeys.”

Joan was a lifelong fan of words and language. She wrote rhymes for every occasion, and members of her family still have some of her poems from over the years.

As a result of Bob’s dedication to running and fitness, she began running herself, and even completed challenging races such as the Peachtree 10k and the Orange Bowl Marathon. Joan and Bob were also active in the Miami Ski Club, carving perfect turns in the snow (well, not always) in top resorts across the country.

Although Joan and Bob enjoyed Miami, they missed the four seasons of their childhoods. In 1979, practically on a whim, they moved to Stone Mountain, Georgia. Once settled in, Joan worked at various professional jobs (and became a WordPerfect wizard), eventually taking a position as an English tutor at Georgia Perimeter College, which she kept until her eighties.

Joan was never shy; when she had a notion to do something, she did it. She became active in helping to pass no-smoking regulations in the 1960s. Years later, she led water aerobics classes at the community pool in her Mountain Creek neighborhood in Stone Mountain. Joan was the one who started the conversation, organized an activity, got the ball rolling, and, with “stick-to-itiveness” and confidence, transformed an idea into a successful project.

No summary of Joan would be complete without mentioning her devotion to the cats in her life: Oorg, Hooter, and Cassie. She also donated yearly to a number of animal charities.

Friends and family will dearly miss her energy, spark, ability to light up a room and make others feel welcome, and unabashed love and concern for so many people. She was the model of a full and productive, yet humble life. All of us whom she touched will gratefully feel the benefits of her genuine warmth and generous spirit for years to come...

Joan is survived by her three sons, Gary (Maureen), Steven (Maude), and Glenn. She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, and her brother Larry King.

A graveside service for Joan will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, 80 Commerce Street, Hawthorne, NY 10532.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to one of her favorite animal charities: Good Mews Animal Foundation (www.goodmews.kindful.com) or Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary (www.animalsanctuary.org/donate/).