JOANNA RICKEL LIGHTNER

Dear David,
I was so moved by the memorial service for Joanna today. Each presentation and reading only added to my personal experience of Joanna's "light" and life. I am a much better person for having encountered Joanna by chance through her teaching at Rutgers and the long-term friendship that we developed through that chance meeting....or do things really happen by chance? I hold dear the book she gave me when I graduated from nursing school in 2007. The book and Joanna's example...

To Joanna's family -- I was shocked to read of Joanna's death in the Jewish Exponent last week. As a locally-based PR person (at ARAMARK), we used Joanna quite a bit a few years ago. She was the picture of calm and she brought a unique serenity to sometimes chaotic situations. She was tender in her dealings with VIPs and completely easy to have around, no matter what the circumstance.

When my first child was born, she gave me a beautiful picture frame. I think of her whenever I...

Dear David,
I'm so sorry to have learned about Joanna's death today.
You have my deepest condolences.
It was my good fortune that she called on The Catholic Standard and Times and was able to take photos for us.
She was wonderful to work with, she had such a good eye for events, the people participating in them and always knew exactly what we needed.
For a person who worked to capture a moment in light and show it to others, she was also someone who brought light...

Dear David,

As you may recall, photographic retail sales is a mostly unrewarding way of earning a living. Having spent so many years at it, wore heavily on me. One of the few highlights of that career was meeting Joanna. Her warmth and kindness were a treat to me. I would look at the line of customers and try to gage how best to assure I would be available when she was next in line. Sometimes this made me speed through some customers, and other times I drew out the transaction,...

Dearest David,

I don't know if you remember me. I had worked closely with Joanna during my Public Relations years at Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. Joanna was my one and only freelance photographer (by choice!) because I loved her work so much. I still remember the day that she "cold called" me. I never cared for cold callers, but she was so warm and friendly. We instantly became friends.

I was delighted to have her shoot our wedding 8 years ago. She was an...