Joan "Gogo" Underwood

Joan “Gogo” Underwood, age 75, of S. Dartmouth, MA passed away Thursday, August 29, 2024 at her residence. She was born in St. Luke’s New Bedford, the daughter of the late William J. and Suzanne (Stockard) Underwood, attended Friends Academy in Dartmouth, Concord Academy and graduated from Dartmouth High School. She studied painting and graduated from the Swain School of Design, attending the NYC Studio School followed by Brooklyn College where she received her masters degree in Fine Art in 1976.

Joan was employed as an Art Teacher at the Brearley School in Manhattan, where she raised her children for many years. Later she worked at Our Sister School as a substitute teacher. She rowed competitively in her forties and fifties, with Saugatuck Scullers in Westport, Ct. and earned medals internationally and in the Head of the Charles. She was a devoted and active member of the community in New Bedford and Padanaram and an avid supporter of the arts and the environment. She was a member of the NBYC, the Buzzards Bay Garden Club, the DNRT, the Hope Club, the RJD, the New Bedford Art Museum, the New Bedford Symphony, the Zeiterion Theatre, and a docent at the Whaling Museum. She sang in the Choir in Little Compton and was a talented if humble flutist and portrait painter.

She is survived by her two children, Helen U. Lesley of Florida and Dartmouth, Ma. and William H. Lesley of Cherryfield, ME; a brother, William Underwood of Westport; and numerous nieces and nephews. Joan is predeceased by her sister Elizabeth Bertrand and her brother Lyman Underwood.

Her Memorial Service will be announced at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in her honor may be made to the Buzzards Bay Coalition, 114 Front St., New Bedford, MA 02740 or to the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust, PO Box 70567, Dartmouth, MA 02747.

To place an online tribute, please visit www.waring-sullivan.com