Joan Agnes Grippo

Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Ardell and Philomena Thompson, and her dear husband of 57 years, Alexander. Survivors include her children, Sharon (Robert) Morris, David (Sheila) Grippo, Catherine (Steven) Nicholson and Julie (Derek) Schuler. She was the beloved grandmother to nine (Rachel, Adam, Cole, Jessica, Max, Madeleine, Molly, Ian and Katie) and great-grandmother to three (Alyssa, Bella and Margot). She was the cherished sister-in-law and lifelong friend to Rose (nee Grippo) Markham.

Joan grew up in the city of St. Louis in a house on 2nd Street where the southern leg of the St. Louis Arch now stands. Her father owned a store in the city, and she attended St. Mary of Victories elementary school and Notre Dame High School. She loved the city and its history, and she was married in the Old Cathedral, her home parish at the time. She especially enjoyed learning about the city’s 1904 World’s Fair.

When her children were young, Joan was involved in their school, Our Lady of Sorrows, running her daughter’s Girl Scout troop among other room mom activities. She had a beautiful voice, and she played the organ and sang during church services at OLS. A highlight of her high school days was performing the lead in her senior musical.

Joan’s life changed dramatically around 1975 after she started experiencing tremors in her head and neck. After several years of false diagnoses, she learned she had Dystonia. Her case was so severe that her trusted doctor at Washington University, Joel Perlmutter, videotaped her over the years as her condition worsened as a way to help future doctors learn to recognize and treat the disease. Joan’s final act on earth was to donate her brain to the University as a way for scientists to study Dystonia and help find a cure.

Joan was a gifted seamstress, making dresses and clothes for her children if she physically could. Her life’s work was genealogy and, when physically able, she’d spend hours at the St. Louis library researching and documenting her family’s history. Long before online resources were available, Joan would help others who would reach out to her get info on family lines she had already traced.

After the death of her husband, Joan moved into Nazareth Living Center where she enjoyed the comfort and companionship of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, many of whom became dear friends. A woman of extraordinary faith, Joan never wavered in her beliefs and the teachings of the Catholic church. Even after suffering two strokes, she found strength almost daily to say her rosary.

Rest easy, dear mother. While it is hard to say goodbye, we know you have earned true peace and salvation.

Visitation to be held on Monday, April 3, 2023 at Nazareth Living Center Chapel, 2 Nazareth Lane, St. Louis, MO 63129 from 9:00 a.m. until time of Mass at 10 a.m. Interment Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. If desired, please make expressions of sympathy in memory of Joan to Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet or Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. Please share memories and offer condolences at hoffmeistersouthcounty.com