Joanne Terenzio Blakemore

Joanne Blakemore, a lifelong civic leader and tireless volunteer, died Sunday, November 30, at the University of Virginia Hospital following a sudden stroke. She was widely admired for her energy, generosity, and dynamic presence, and was deeply loved by all who knew her.

Born in New Haven, Connecticut to Joseph and Marie Terenzio, and raised in Manhattan, Joanne and her husband Haywood met and married in New York and began a 40-year global adventure when they moved to Singapore in 1982. They lived and raised their daughters in Singapore, Tokyo, Paris, and Doha. Wherever she lived, Joanne became a community leader, deeply engaged in the social and cultural life of each city. After decades living overseas, Joanne and Haywood retired to Charlottesville, Virginia, which she embraced and was proud to call home.

A New Yorker at her core, Joanne’s contagious energy drew people to her and she built close, enduring friendships everywhere she went. She brought people together and made every room brighter. She was, many said, pure magic. She was equally at home debating politics, planning a transcontinental trip, chairing a meeting, leading a fundraising drive, or singing showtunes while cooking dinner with family and friends. Service was her life’s passion, and she endeavored to make every community she touched better.

In Singapore, she established the ASEAN Children’s Foundation, which trained doctors across Southeast Asia in the treatment of childhood cancer. From 1997-2004, she also chaired the American Association, representing American interests across Singapore. Considered widely as a pillar of the American community, within days following September 11, 2001, Joanne organized and led a memorial ceremony with 10,000 Americans and Singaporeans in the Singapore National Stadium. During her time there she also served on numerous boards including The American Women’s Association, the Singapore American Club, the Singapore Symphony, the Singapore Repertory Theatre, Sculpture Square, and Friends of the National Musuem.

In Paris, Joanne became active in the American Cathedral, serving as the President of the St. Anne’s Guild, where she started a partnership to support two Palestinian schools in Ramallah and led annual pilgrimage trips to Jerusalem and the West Bank. Long after she left Paris, she continued planning and co-leading annual trips for members and friends of the American Cathedral to historical and religious sites across Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia, from Andalucia to Azerbaijan. She was a skilled organizer and world traveler, and the trips were a highlight for Cathedral members for over 15 years.

In 2009, she and Haywood moved to Doha, where she yet again immersed herself in the local community, serving as the President of the International Women’s Group. She launched a program and recruited volunteers from the expatriate community and various embassies to collect and deliver donations of food and clothing for immigrant construction workers living in Doha and for refugees from the war in Syria.

Her activism spread to countries and continents beyond her own community. Following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina in 2006, she made two trips to the Mississippi Gulf to help rebuilding houses in poor communities damaged by the storm. She also volunteered in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and subsequently did relief work in impoverished villages in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Vietnam.

In addition to her activism, Joanne was also a savvy businesswoman. At various times she owned and operated a legal recruiting firm in New York City, a women’s clothing design workshop and boutique in Singapore, a children’s clothing import business in Tokyo, and sold real estate in Greenwich, Connecticut.

She was a proud and active member of the Charlottesville community, serving on the boards of the Charlottesville Opera, Georgia’s Friends, the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem, and, previously, the Charlottesville Council on Foreign Relations, the UVA Cancer Center, and the Rivanna Garden Club. She was an active member of the Odyssey Club, the Contemporary Club, and Farmington Country Club and she volunteered with Meals on Wheels, the International Rescue Committee, Legal Aid Justice Center, and the Salvation Army.

Her 45-year partnership to Haywood spanned decades and continents, and together they built a close-knit family that remains deeply connected. She is also survived by her brother, John Terenzio, her two daughters, Jessica and Emily, her two sons-in-law Brian Damron and Stuart Murphy, and her granddaughter, Madeline Louise Murphy.

She was cherished by a wide circle of close friends around the world who will remember her passion for service, humor, vivacious warmth, impeccable style, and indomitable spirit.

It was once said of Joanne that to know her was to see love in action.

CELEBRATION OF JOANNE BLAKEMORE'S LIFE

Saturday, January 24th at 12:00 pm

St. Paul’s Memorial Church

1701 University Avenue

Charlottesville, Virginia

Please join us for a reception following the service:

Farmington Country Club

1625 Country Club Circle

All are welcome

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Georgia’s Friends (georgiasfriends.org), an organization dear to Joanne’s heart that supports women in recovery in the Charlottesville area.