Joan Furstenberg Heller

Joan Furstenberg Heller, of St. Simons Island, Georgia, passed away peacefully on February 24, 2024, in Jacksonville, Florida. She was born on September 8, 1930, in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Arzelia Florence Furstenberg and Elmer Ralph Furstenberg. She attended Lawrence College and the University of Wisconsin, where she earned degrees in Chemistry and English. She and her husband, Richard Hayden Heller, also from Appleton, made their first home on St. Simons Island in 1952, where Joan was a homemaker and raised three children.

After fifteen years on St. Simons the family moved to several locations while with Hercules, Inc., making homes and friends in Massachusetts, Savannah, GA, Mississippi, Delaware, Missouri, and Kansas before retiring and returning home to St. Simons in 1991.

Joan was a loving mom and always very happily involved with the activities of her children. She was athletic and active in sports, she enjoyed sewing and smocking and was an accomplished artist having participated in juried art shows. She loved music and was a patron of the Jacksonville Symphony, for many years.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Richard, her daughter, Holly Mruz (Ed), and her brother, Dr. Robert Furstenberg. She is survived by a daughter, Deborah Robinson (Ron), Macclenny Fl; a son, Scott Heller (Celeste), Jacksonville, FL; grandchildren Katherine Jolley (Ben), Jacksonville; Hayden Heller, Jacksonville; great-granddaughters Lathan and Lennon Jolley, and many nieces and nephews.

At her request no formal service will be held. There will be a family gathering for the interment at the Christ Church Frederica Columbarium on St. Simons Island.

The family suggests memorials to her favorite charities, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Pancreatic Cancer Research.