Joan Norine Tripp
Joan is survived by her high school sweetheart and devoted husband of 50 years, Wayne. She is also survived by two sons and their wives: Benjamin Tripp and Jill Loftis and Matt Tripp and Megan Bruening. She is survived as well by the apple of her eye: granddaughter Margaret “Maggie” Tripp and her mother, Ann Tripp. In addition, Joan is survived by two sisters and two brothers: Shirley VanDyke, Geraldine (Smith) Johnson, Wayne (Nina) VanDyke, and Clay (Marlene) VanDyke; two sisters-in-law: Brenda Fisher and Patsy VanDyke; and one brother-in-law, Dennis Abbott. She was preceded in death by three brothers: James, Charles, and Jack VanDyke and two sisters: Jean VanDyke and Jill Abbott.
Joan was a sweet, kind, caring, generous, and loving person. She consistently demonstrated those characteristics as a sister, wife, mother, grandmother, and teacher. Joan’s sisters recall her helping to care for the younger children and organizing and leading plays at the family home in Jewell Ridge. Joan and Wayne marked the fiftieth anniversary of their wedding on March 11. They met at New Castle High School in 1967, fell in love, and loved each other deeply for the rest of their lives. Joan’s love for her sons had no bounds. Each year on their birthdays, she organized what amounted to birthday “festivals” rather than birth “days” for Ben and Matt. She faithfully attended Ben’s band performances and Matt’s Olympics of the Mind and Forensics competitions across Virginia and surrounding states. She welcomed their wives wholeheartedly into her life and loved them as if they were her own daughters. When Maggie was born, Joan finally had the little girl she had always wanted. She loved Maggie dearly, hosting tea parties, reading her books, taking her out for ice cream and trips to Barnes and Noble, racing her in the back yard, and holding sleepovers.
Joan spent her early life in Tazewell County, moving to Craig County with her family in her teens and graduating from high school in 1969. Joan graduated from Radford University in 1973. It was there that she found her calling and mission in her professional life: to teach and enrich the lives of children. She began teaching kindergarten at Maywood School in Craig County and went on to teach a total of 34 years in Lancaster County, Alleghany County, Salem City, and Roanoke County, spending the last 22 years of her career as a teacher of second graders at Fort Lewis Elementary School. The children she taught had a champion in Joan. She loved them all and wanted them all to be successful and happy. She was especially devoted to children in need. Her colleague “partners in crime,” Maria Catron at Fort Lewis and Trula Byington at South Salem, recall that any time a child needed a book, a pencil, a lunch, a Christmas present, or anything else, Joan would step in and see to it that they got it, more often than not anonymously. Thousands of children had better educations and lives because of her. She also spent many years teaching Sunday School at First United Methodist Church in Salem.
Joan’s family wishes to express their deep gratitude to Marisa Peacock and the angels of Brandon Oaks at Home who cared so lovingly for Joan: Nancy Garrison, Brenda Lehrer, and Morgan. They also wish to thank all the staff of the Blue Ridge Neighborhood at the Brandon Oaks Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, especially Stephanie Stuart, Colleen Talley, Abraham Traynham, Linda Hamulic, and John Dingus.
A celebration of Joan’s life led by The Rev. Keith Olivier, Chaplain of Brandon Oaks, will be held at John M. Oakey & Son Funeral Home in Salem, Virginia, at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 26. Interment will follow at Huffman Memorial Park on Virginia Route 42 west of New Castle. Visitation will be at the funeral home from 5-7 p.m. on Saturday, March 25. Flowers will be accepted or donations for a scholarship to be endowed in Joan’s honor to support aspiring elementary school teachers may be made to the Salem Educational Foundation at PO Box 1461, Salem, VA 24153 or online at https://connect.clickandpledge.com/organization/sefandaa/.
Online condolences may be expressed to the Tripp family by visiting www.johnmoakey.com.
