Joanne M. Wisor

1939 - 2022

GENEVA - Joanne Macauley Wisor, died on March 26, 2022.

Per Joanne's wishes formal services will not be held.

There will be a celebration of life in the coming months.

Please honor her memory by giving extra volunteer hours or making a donation to the local charity of one's choice.

She was born in Philadelphia on September 9, 1939 and married on June 6, 1964. Between those years, she finished high school in Big Stone Gap, Va. and received a degree in biology, from Dickinson College, where she was a member of Chi Omega. She did graduate work in education at the University of Pennsylvania and taught at the Shipley School, Bryn Mawr, Pa. After marriage, she followed her husband to Germany, where she taught in the U.S. Army dependents' schools. While her husband served a residency in ophthalmology at Duke University, she worked in cancer research at the Duke Medical Center. They moved to Geneva in 1972. She was active in many community organizations over the years, including Trinity Episcopal Church, the YMCA, Ontario Day Care Center, the Center of Concern, the Linden Exchange, Geneva Education Advisory Committee, Geneva Historical Society, the Industrial Development Agency, the Partnership for Ontario County, Finger Lakes Community College Foundation, Finger Lakes Health, the Geneva Opera Society, the Clarinet Collection, the Colleges-Community Chorus, the Geneva Music Festival and assistant archivist for the Episcopal Diocese of Rochester. She took part in many fund-raising campaigns, search committees, and re-organization plans. She served 10 years on the board of the Geneva City School District, including two as president, prior to being elected and serving as mayor of Geneva from 1996 to 1999. She counted those years as some of her most rewarding. At the time of her death, she was a member of Chapter AK of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an honorary member of the Catharine Foster Hopkins Art Reading Club, and an enthusiastic '39er.

Joanne was a tireless fighter for improving the community of Geneva and the Finger Lakes Region. She will be missed tremendously be her family, friends and those that had the pleasure of working with her. She lived her life with dignity and purpose and leaves a legacy of accomplishments too numerous to list.

She is survived by her husband, Charles; son Fritz; daughter-in-law, Cathy Crawford Wisor; and goddaughter, Rachel Herring Sangree; and numerous cousins in Kentucky, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia area.

She was predeceased by her son, Douglas.

For those wishing to write a note of condolence, please visit www.devaneybennettfh.com.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the DeVaney-Bennett Funeral Home.