Joan Wyckoff
Joan Wyckoff adopted East Hampton as her second and then primary residence as an adult, but was an active and devoted member of the community here whose contributions were felt at the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, the Springs Library, Bay Street Theater, East Hampton Presbyterian Church, and Meals on Wheels.
Ms. Wyckoff, who was 84, died in hospice care on Oct. 25 in Melville after a six-week illness with heart disease. She had lived on Argyle Lane in East Hampton for 35 years and summered in Amagansett for 20 years before that.
She was born on Dec. 9, 1929, in Flushing to Alfred August Johnson and the former Jeanette Marie Spaeth and lived there for eight years before moving to Centerport. She graduated from Huntington High School and then attended Wells College in upstate New York.
After her marriage in 1950 to Donald L. Wyckoff, she lived in several places including Emerson and Wyckoff, N.J., Huntington, and Port Washington. The couple divorced in 1972; they had two daughters, Johanna Wyckoff Struk of Elizabeth City, N.C, and Jennifer Wyckoff Shore of Centerport, who survive her.
Her career included stints as an editor at Golden Books, an assistant to Henry Dreyfus and Associates in New York City, and at the Bank of New York’s East Hampton branch. She also worked for the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce and Meals on Wheels. She was a volunteer at the Springs Library, ushered at Bay Street Theater, and served as a deacon at the East Hampton Presbyterian Church. She loved to travel and particularly enjoyed the American Southwest.
According to her family, she was an “avid gardener, reader, naturalist, and life-long learner.” They described her as a devoted mother and grandmother who lived her life to the fullest, enjoying the arts, public radio, and public television, as well as her community and The Star, which they said she read cover to cover every Thursday.
A service was held in Northport on Sunday. A summer service is being planned in East Hampton, where her ashes will be dispersed. A date has not yet been set.
In addition to her daughters, she is survived by four grandchildren and a brother, Paul Alfred Johnson of Freedom, Pa. Mr. Wyckoff died in 1989.
Contributions have been suggested to the Springs Library, 1 Parsons Place, East Hampton 11937; Hospice Inn at Hospice Care Network, 99 Sunnyside Boulevard, Woodbury 11797; Hospice House and the Visiting Nurse Service, or Hospice of Suffolk 505 Main Street, Northport 11768.