Survived by her husband of 67 years, Frank G. Rothman of Naples, her sister, Irene R. Kiernan of New York City, her 4 children: Michael P. Rothman and Elisabeth R. Choi of Brookline MA, Jean T. Rothman of Encinitas, CA and James E. Burns of Cleveland Heights, OH, Stephen P. Rothman and Tam Rothman, of Fort Myers, FL, Maria R. Boyd and Taylor R. Boyd of Spring City, PA, 6 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild. Joan was predeceased by her sister, Sr. Miriam Roberta Kiernan, a Sister of Charity in New York City.
Daughter of Robert J. Kiernan and Irene Kiernan (nee Dillon,) she was born October 8, 1929, in Queens, NY. The youngest of three sisters, Joan grew up in Queens and attended Our Lady of Wisdom High School. She graduated from Mt. St. Vincent College in Riverdale NY at the top of her class in 1951 with a major in Chemistry.
She then enrolled in the Harvard University graduate Chemistry program, where she met her husband, a fellow student. They were married in 1953 and had their children over the next 7 years. In 1961, the family moved to Providence RI where Mr. Rothman held a professorship of Biology at Brown University.
In 1968 she enrolled in an extension course in Archeology taught by Yigael Yadin, who excavated Masada and translated the Dead Sea Scrolls. That experience inspired her to enroll in a graduate program in Religious Studies at Brown, where she received her Master’s. She was a strong believer in lifelong learning, studying Greek and Hebrew. She worked on archeological digs at Tel Aphek in Israel for more than 5 years, accompanied by her husband, and studied at the Albright Institute in Jerusalem.
She read the Naples Daily News and the New York Times every day, actively managed her investments, enjoyed ballroom dancing, loved reading, cooking, and gardening, played the piano, listened to music from standards to classical, and entertained a host of dear friends with her wit and vivacity. A devout Roman Catholic, Joan was a Lector at St. Joseph’s in Providence and at St. Williams in Naples.
The Rothmans retired and moved to Naples in 2004, where they enjoyed an active life with many friends, sampling the best food and wine Naples restaurants had to offer. Joan’s joy for life, her strong belief in helping others, and her willingness to share her knowledge and insights give us much to reflect on.
A private mass of Christian burial will be held at St. Williams Church in Naples on Saturday, June 20th. A celebration of her life will be held in the Fall /Winter of 2020. In lieu of flowers, donations may be directed to the American Civil Liberties Union (https://www.aclu.org/), the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Naples (https://www.svdpnaples.org/) or to the Sunlight Home of Collier County (https://sunlighthome.org/).
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18