Joan Firkins Wobst

Joan Firkins Wobst Hobe Sound - It is with great sadness that the family of Joan F. Wobst announces her passing. Joan died on February 26, 2023, at her home on Jupiter Island, Florida with her family by her side. She was 88.

Joan was born in New York City on September 7, 1934, to Audrey and Neil Firkins. After Neil's death in 1941, Audrey moved with Joan and Joan's sister, Arlyn, to Lynchburg, Virginia to accept a faculty position in the Psychology Department of Randolph Macon Women's College. In 1956, Joan graduated from Randolph Macon with highest honors and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Gottingen University in Germany.

While studying in Germany, Joan met and fell in love with fellow student, Frank G. Wobst. They were married in Nuremberg, Germany in 1957. Shortly thereafter, Joan and Frank left Germany for Virginia. The young couple spent many wonderful years in Lynchburg, and their three children, Franck, Ingrid, and Andrea, were born there.

In 1974, Frank was offered a leadership position at the Huntington National Bank, and the family moved to Columbus, Ohio. Joan came to love Columbus thanks primarily to the many wonderful friends she and Frank made there. In 1984, the couple purchased property in Hobe Sound, Florida, which became the family gathering place, loved by Joan and Frank's children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Joan and Frank loved to travel, and they explored the world with family and friends.

Joan will be remembered as a vibrant and glamorous member of the communities to which she belonged. She had a strong tennis game and was an avid Bridge player. Joan was often the best dressed woman at any event, typically wearing clothes she had designed, sewn, and knit herself. Joan's greatest passion, outside of her family, was her art. She was an accomplished painter and sculptor. She has paintings, bronzes, and clay pieces on public display in Ohio and Florida, as well as in private collections. Many of her pieces were inspired by classic children's literature, including Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, and the illustrations of Maurice Sendak. Joan was also inspired to create works which reflected history and the natural world. Among Joan's best-known works are The Umbrella Girl Fountain in Columbus's Schiller Park for which her daughter, Andrea, was the model; The Opera Pot, castings of which are installed at Columbus School for Girls and Jupiter Island Town Center; and her Alice in Wonderland Chess Set which is in the collection of the Columbus Museum of Art.

Joan is survived by her sister, Arlyn Broccoli; her son, Franck and daughter, Ingrid; their respective spouses, Leigh Ann Wobst and Kerry Hanes; son-in-law Stephen Jeney; grandchildren, Andrew (Rachel) Wobst, Audrey (Tyler) Wobst Stanley, Samantha Wobst, Jacob Hanes, Harley Hanes, Jasper Hanes, Henry Hanes, Alexander Jeney and Frank (Eileen) Jeney; her great grandchildren, Kellan Wobst and Monica, Peter and Lucas Stanley; and her nieces, nephews and extended family in the United States and in Germany.

Joan is preceded in death by her parents, Audrey Shuey Firkins and Neal Emerson Firkins; husband, Frank Georg Wobst; and daughter, Andrea Wobst Jeney.

No public service is planned. In lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to make memorial donations to the Columbus School for Girls, the Columbus Museum of Art, the Hobe Sound Community Chest or their local hospice care organization.