Joan R. Rissmeyer

Joan was the daughter of William P. and Grace McNeil Reilly, the loving wife for 63 years of Walter H. Rissmeyer and mother of Patricia, Joyce and Stephen Rissmeyer, Joan was born in Queens NY, and lived in Valinda and West Covina, CA for over 25 years. Joan was a proud graduate of Dominican Commercial High School in Queens, NY and enjoyed working for the Bell Telephone Company in Manhattan, NY prior to starting her family.

Joan was known as a gracious and generous woman who was always willing to help others. She was active in community affairs serving as Girl Scout Leader, Census Taker and dedicated member of several Roman Catholic Church societies such as the Our Lady of Fatima Blue Army. Joan was a lifelong learner; she loved to read and to travel. She was passionate about history and enjoyed visiting historic places in the United States. Joan and Walter made several cross country trips with their children and continued to travel into their senior years. Joan enjoyed bowling and competed in several bowling leagues in New York and New Jersey. She adored children and was delighted to be a mother of three, aunt to 20 nieces and nephews, grandmother to Jonathan and Amanda and great-grandmother to Emmy.

A woman of great faith, Joan began and ended each day in prayer remembering those in need and deceased family and friends. She always stopped what she was doing at the sound of a siren to offer a prayer for the parties involved, and she prayed the rosary daily. She was a parishioner of Saint Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Lakewood for 35 years.

Joan is predeceased by her parents William P. and Grace McNeil Reilly, her sister Dorothy Reilly Graham (Pacific Palisades, CA) and her brother Edward and sister-in-law Maura Reilly (Fairlawn, NJ). Joan is survived by her beloved husband Walter; daughter Patricia and son-in-law James Wallace (Brookline, MA); daughter Joyce (Lakewood, NJ) grandson Jonathan, his wife Christine and great granddaughter Emerson (Santa Barbara, CA); son Stephen and his wife Brenda (Millington, NJ) and granddaughter Amanda (Greenville, NC). Also, she leaves behind cherished sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, nephews, nieces, friends and caregivers.

Funeral arrangements are through D’Elia Funeral Home, Route 70 & Vermont Avenue, Lakewood, NJ 08701 - (732) 363-1987. Visiting hours at the funeral home will be held on Wednesday, August 8, from 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Saint Mary of the Lake Church, 43 Madison Ave, Lakewood, NJ on Thursday, August 9, at 10:30 am. Family members are welcome for visitation at the funeral home on Thursday at 9 am. Internment immediately following at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ.

For those who wish, donations in Joan’s memory may be made to Shorrock Gardens, 75 Old Tom’s River Road, Brick, NJ 08723.