Joanne Stein

Our beloved Joanne "Jo" Stein left us too soon on August 28, 2024 after a courageous battle against interstitial lung disease (ILD). Jo was a multi-talented person with a formidable intellect and an independent spirit. Her life was characterized by a devotion to family and friends; strong values to make the world a better place; and a never ending curiosity about the world that she expressed by a mastery of several vocational and avocational interests.
Jo was born in Hartford, Connecticut on February 20, 1958 as the youngest child of Esther and Irving "Skip" Stein. The family moved to Livingston, New Jersey when she was five years old. Jo spent one year of high school in 1973 in Rishon LeZion, Israel and then graduated from Newark Academy High School in Livingston, NJ in 1976. Jo loved Israel and spending a year studying there was an enriching and enduring part of her life and it rubbed off on the rest of her family.
In 1980 Jo graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA and then worked in New York City for several years as an editor and book designer for Facts on File and later McGraw Hill. While living in NY City Jo worked part time at the Chelsea Equestrian Center.
In 2002 Jo decided to pursue equestrian work on a full time basis. She moved to upstate New York and worked at Dunromin Farms, Blue Sky Farms and eventually moved to the family farm of her significant other at the time, David Dembo. In addition to their equestrian pursuits on the farm, Jo and David were talented tango dancers and they spent many hours practicing and dancing, including at the private dance studio they had built adjacent to the main horse stable. Jo had a long simmering interest in counseling and psychotherapy that was partly satisfied by her work using horses in psychotherapeutic settings.
Jo decided to pursue a formal mid-life career in social work and psychotherapy and earned an MSW in 2013 from SUNY Albany. She lived in Lee, Massachusetts from 2013-2018 and worked at the Brien Center in North Adams.
In 2018 Jo decided to enter private practice as a psychotherapist and live closer to her family in Florida. She relocated to Miami where she established her practice and spent significant time with family. Jo was especially close to her niece, Gesi and her husband, Zeke, and their two daughters, Lowe and Sunny.
Jo is survived by her mother, Esther G. Stein of Hallandale, FL; her sister and brother-in-law Risa and Scott Schilling of Aventura, FL; her brother and sister-in-law Steven and Amy Stein of Monte Sereno, CA; her nephew, Max Schilling of Davie, FL; her niece, Rebecca Stein, of San Francisco, CA; her niece and her husband, Gesi Schilling and Zeke Zylberberg, and their two daughters, Lowe and Sunny, of Fort Lauderdale, FL; her nephew and his wife, Jason and Jenni Stein and their two daughters, Eleanor and Lucy, of Los Gatos, CA. Jo's father, Irving Stein predeceased her in 1994.
Any donations in her memory can be made to the American Lung Association https://action.lung.org
Eagala, the equine psychotherapy organization https://www.eagala.org or The Jewish Agency for Israel https://www.jewishagency.org
Arrangements by Levitt Weinstein Blasberg Rubin Zilbert Memorial Chapel (305) 932-2700.