Joan E. Thomas, active in community
Joan E. Thomas, 81, of Bethany Beach, formerly of Kensington, Md., passed away peacefully Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019, while surrounded by her two daughters at the Delaware Hospice Center in Milford.
A native of Michigan, she lived and worked in Maryland, and for the past 17 years Bethany Beach has been her home. Joan graduated from the Detroit Business Institute prior to moving to Maryland, where she worked at what was then the Atomic Energy Commission and for 11 years as the executive assistant to the director of development at Georgetown University Medical Center. After retiring and moving to Bethany Beach, she re-entered the workforce once again as the development assistant to the executive director of the Beebe Medical Foundation until her second retirement. In these two positions her primary responsibilities included prospect management, identification and cultivation of prospects, and coordinating sponsorship and underwriting efforts for major fundraising events.
She was a member of the Friends of the South Coastal Library Board of Directors and was the co-chair of the library’s successful $2.5 million campaign to rebuild and expand the existing facility. She has been a member and committee chair of the Beach and Bay Cottage Tour committee, a major fundraising annual event supporting the library programs.
Joan was the president of the AARP South Coastal DE Chapter and was still very active as a committee chair. The chapter, which has over 500 members, works to identify essential social needs or projects in the community and to stimulate appropriate chapter involvement of resources to meet the needs or assist the projects. She was a member of the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company Ladies Auxiliary and as a member assisted with their fundraising efforts. She volunteered as an ambassador for the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
She is survived by her two daughters, Susan Aubertin and her husband Charles of Rockville, Md., and Judi Miller and her husband Joel of Kensington, Md.; six grandchildren, Molly Miller, Michael Aubertin, Lucy Miller, Gregory Aubertin, Jackson Miller and Douglas Aubertin; and several close friends who have helped and brought comfort to Joan’s family over the past few months.
A visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, at the Ocean View Chapel of Melson Funeral Services, 38040 Muddy Neck Road, Ocean View. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020, at St. Ann Catholic Church, 691 Garfield Parkway, Bethany Beach. Interment will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 13801 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, Md.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contribution in Joan’s name to the American Breast Cancer Foundation by visiting www.abcf.org.
Online condolences may be sent by visiting www.melsonfuneralservices.com
