Joan D. Brong

Joan D. (Blake) Brong, 96, of The Residence of Eden Green in Denton, Maryland and formerly of Saylorsburg, Brodheadsville, and Asbury Grace Park of Stroudsburg, passed away the morning of October 4, 2025, after a battle with Alzheimer's dementia. She was predeceased by her husband, Lloyd E. Brong in 2018. They had been married on June 19, 1951 in Saylorsburg. Born November 17, 1928, at the home of her paternal grandmother in Pen Argyl, she was the daughter of the late Elizabeth Whildin (Shinton) Blake and Leon George Blake Sr. and lived in Monroe County most of her life. She attended Flyte's one-room schoolhouse in Saylorsburg and was a 1946 graduate of Chestnuthill High School in Brodheadsville. Joan did reside with her maternal grandparents for her junior year of school and attended Lansford High School. In earlier years, she worked as a telephone operator for Blue Mt. Telephone Co., Fenner's Blue Mt. Textile Mill in Wind Gap, and as a school cafeteria worker in the Pleasant Valley School District from 1969 until her retirement in 1990. She had been a member of Zion United Lutheran Church in Brodheadsville and a past member of St. Peter's United Methodist Church in Saylorsburg. Joan is survived by her daughter, Wanda Kay Jerez (Leonardo) of Milford, DE; three grandsons, Blake Gamez (Kelly) of Misawa, Japan, Austin Williams (Danielle) of Charleston, SC and Jordan Williams (Katie) of Melbourne, FL; five great grandchildren, Yzabella, Tomas and Coopyr Gamez and Anastasia and Vivienne Williams and a great granddaughter Williams due in March 2026. In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her brothers and sister-in-laws, Thomas S. Blake (Elizabethan) and Leon G. Blake, Jr. (Laura). She is also survived by several nieces and nephews. There will be a private viewing and burial in the Buena Vista Cemetery in Brodheadsville at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial remembrances be made to the Alzheimer's Foundation of America at alzfdn.org or 322 Eighth Ave., 16th Floor, NY, NY 10001. All arrangements are entrusted to the William H. Kresge Funeral Home, 1763 Route 209, Brodheadsville. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joan, please visit our floral store.