JOAN TUMPSON Obituary

TUMPSON, JOAN, artist, lawyer and beloved daughter, sister and aunt, passed away at her home in Miami on Feb. 11. A graduate of Yale Law School, she practiced law for many years in New York City and Miami before becoming a full-time artist. Her work has been displayed in numerous galleries as well as the White House and the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York. Raised in Huntington, W.V., she graduated from Northwestern University with highest honors and worked as a reporter for the Associated Press in New York and as a professor at the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Preceded in death by her husband Eliezer Rivlin and father Sidney Tumpson, she is survived by her mother Helen Wallace; sister Jill Rawe; brothers Daniel, Albert and Toby Tumpson; nephew Kinsey; nieces Julie, Sydney, Sophia and Sally; great-nephew Evan and great-nieces Eliza and Susanna. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 1pm at the Savino Weissman Funeral Home, 2950 N. State Road 7, Margate, Fla. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Humane Society of Greater Miami. (305-749-1816; humanesocietymiami.org).

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Published by Miami Herald on Feb. 18, 2014.

Memories and Condolences
for JOAN TUMPSON

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13 Entries

Marc Fagelson

August 11, 2025

A great friend and colleague. Brilliant lawyer with extra-legal interests and pursuits. All of that and more made her a fascinating human. I'm late to the Condolences for my own complications. I was hoping my search would find her on this side of the River. But Evan ten yrs too late I had to express my sorrow. RIP.

November 17, 2015

A nice lady and a good teacher of the law.

Jim Rogers

February 26, 2015

Oh, Joanie, how could this be! I so hoped to see you next week. Can someone please tell me what happened? She was so young and exciting. Now this?

Tom Diemer

June 5, 2014

Very sorry to hear about this. Joan and I were colleagues at the AP in NYC. She could have been a heck of a reporter, had she chosen that path.

Johnes Ruta

March 7, 2014

As a friend, and Joan's web designer. I am deeply saddened to have just learned of her passing. As an art curator in New Haven, CT, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Joan in 2003, become friends, and to sponsor an exhibit of her paintings at the time of her 30th Year Class Reunion of the Yale University Law School that November. I was hoping to do the same in 2013, but she had to cancel her plans to attend her 40th at Yale, due to health concerns. Joan was a kind and brilliant friend and will be truly missed.
~ Johnes Ruta, independent curator & writer; Art Director New Haven Free Public Library
Please view her wonderful paintings: http://joantumpson.com/

Connie Coopersmith

March 4, 2014

I became friends with Joan in the final months of her life. She was a splendid person dealing with enormous heartbreak over the loss of her beloved husband. I was so impressed with her talent, spirit and her friends who really cared for her

February 21, 2014

I am so sorry to learn of Joan's passing. She was a woman of great compassion, hugely talented, quick-witted and, most of all, deeply in love with her family. My sympathies go out to her mother Helen, sister Jill, brothers Daniel, Albert and Toby and all of her nieces and nephews.

David Haynes

Jenni Marshall

February 19, 2014

Too young to leave us. You've definitely left a legacy and you will be missed !
Much love to Jill and the rest of the family.

February 18, 2014

My love and my thoughts continue to be with all of you. I have so many wonderful memories of times in Huntington, how much fun it was to visit with your family. I am truly so sad that I could not be with you to celebrate my cousin Joan's life. What a brilliant and talented woman! I am hoping that you are all doing as well as possible.

Much love,
Nance

Robert Tumpson

February 18, 2014

I'm so sorry to hear of cousin Joan's passing. Whenever I think of her, I go back to the "60s", and a visit she made to our home in Mt. Lebanon. I can still visualize her sprawled on the living room floor in front of our Hi-Fi listening to Dylan's "Like a rolling stone" over and over and over until she memorized every lyric. Now, 50 years later, I think of Joan every time I hear that song...and thanks to cousin Joan, I can lip-sync the song perfectly!!! My thoughts are with you Aunt Helen,Jill, Danny, Albert, and Toby. Love, cousin Bob

Connie Browne Smith

February 18, 2014

Heavy hearted to hear of Joan's passing. So brilliant and talented. My thoughts and prayers go out to all her family and friends. She will forever be as close as a memory.

Toni Lynn Trottier

February 18, 2014

A lovely woman and humanitarian. Much too soon departed, Joan will be greatly missed by so many.

Sue Ellen Wolfe-Copley

February 18, 2014

Such a great person and will be missed by all! My thoughts and prayers with the family.

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