Joan R. Lewis

Joan R. Lewis, 87, died April 5, 2024, at Brethren Village in Lititz, a day after she was transported from her home of fifty-eight years in Landisville, PA. Born in 1936 in Altoona, she was adopted at birth by James K. Robison and Irene Lebo Snyder, who graduated Oberlin College with a degree in music education. Irene’s father was Rev. William H. Snyder, who was active in the ministry for forty-three years, whose charges included stays at Stoyestown, Sinking Spring, Slatington and Salem. Being raised in a family of faith, whose mother sang the church solo every Sunday, gave her a love of music that lasted her entire life. She is survived by her son, Robert K. Lewis of Bronx, NY, her daughter, Jennifer Foudy, her son-in-law, John Foudy, and her two grandsons, Joshua and Judah of Spring, TX, as well as her brother-in-law Thomas, his wife, Terri, in Millbury, MA, and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband Robert (“Bob”) D. Lewis, who she wed in 1964 at First Presbyterian Church in Glens Falls, NY, and whose love for each other never faltered during their forty-eight years of marriage. She also had a brother, James, who died in 1973 Joan graduated Glens Falls High School in 1954. She was a “Mother Goose” at Storytown USA, graduated Cazenovia Junior College, and worked at Glens Falls National Bank, and McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. in midtown Manhattan. Joan and Bob moved to Lancaster, PA in 1965, when he accepted an R&D position at Armstrong World Industries. During the decades that followed, Joan was active in many churches, including Bethany Presbyterian Church, where she was a deacon and Sunday school teacher; First Presbyterian Church of Mount Joy, where she was the head of the deacons and supported its vacation Bible school; and Highland Presbyterian Church, where she served as a parish lay visitor, and as part of the care and compassion team, where she wrote notes in her distinctive penmanship that was as strong as her love of music. What she enjoyed most during her service at Highland were her visitation duties with Anne Montgomery at Mennonite Homes. Perhaps the clearest facet of her charmed life was while she was working at the Lancaster Association for the Blind, Erma Baxter insisted that she apply for an open position at the circulation desk at Franklin & Marshall’s library. She was hired, and she became its last employee to enter its tuition exchange program, which allowed her daughter to go to college, tuition-free. Family and friends are respectfully invited to attend a memorial service at Highland Presbyterian Church at 500 E.Roseville Rd, with Reverend Dr. Robert S. Burns officiating on Thursday, April 11, at 11 a.m. The family will greet friends from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. The service will be live-streamed as well on Highland’s website. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Joan’s name to VisionCorps. https://give.visioncorps.net/give/314161/#!/donation/checkout This past year, she often said -- Love to all, and soon we'll be walking Stone Harbor's beaches together, again. A Memorial Service will be held at Highland Presbyterian Church, 500 E Roseville Road, Lancaster, PA 17601, on Thursday, April 11, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. Friends are welcome to greet the family at 10:00 a.m. until the time of service. The interment at a later date in Glens Falls, NY.