Joan Gervat

Born Joan Rosen in the Bronx, NY to Bessie Gosnoff and Maurice Rosen. Joan is survived by her son, Tom Gervat. Joan was a loving wife, teacher and mother. While her undergraduate degree was in French at Fordham University, she followed in her mom's footsteps as a teacher for the New York City school system. She taught in PS 56 in the Bronx where she met her loving husband, Fred Gervat over crossword puzzles at lunch. During this time, she also cared for her mom who had Parkinson's disease while pursuing her Phd in Education at Hunter College. As a teacher, Joan was caring and also displayed her father's Bostonian manner as she never raised her voice, and the children she taught loved her deeply. She would spend her own money to buy expensive dolls, toys, etc for the kids in her class who were well behaved each year. Joan was also relentless when she put her mind to something. Over the course of their six year courtship, she wrote Fred letters every day over the summers when he was away at Scout camp. She even had the letters hand delivered by the local postman. In keeping with this tradition, Joan hand wrote cards for every holiday to friends and family for years, often up to 300 per holiday until her health started to wane. This dedication extended to her son who she wanted to adopt early in his life, however this was delayed for about a year. This was a very tough time for her. Ultimately, the adoption happened and she was an extremely loving mother to her son. Joan will be deeply missed by all who knew her. A Graveside Service will be held on 2 PM on Wednesday May 12, 2021, at Amawalk Hill Cemetery, Yorktown Heights, NY the service will also be Live Streamed at my.gather.app/remember/joan-gervat