Joan Renè Johnson, of Cortland, NY passed away on April 30, 2025. She was born in Manhattan on November 23, 1937, the daughter of the late Edwin B. Pantley and Emily C. Pantley.
Joan was a loving mother, grandmother, sister and friend. She loved flowers, especially roses, and always saved her fork for dessert. You know she really loved the taste of something when she exclaimed “good, good, good!” Above all, she loved her family.
She had a real passion for bowling. She bowled for 60 years. Joan and her late
husband Ellis were charter members of the SUNY Cortland Sunset Bowling League. No matter what challenges she went through, she became “the bowler” every Friday night and for those two hours all else was forgotten. In 2022, she was inducted into the Bowling Hall of Fame, Seven Valley USBC.
Joan held a perfect academic and attendance record at Middletown High School in New York. She played on the All Star Girls Softball team, was the school photographer for the yearbook, and as if that wasn’t enough, she won the title of Miss Middletown! She was a real life queen and beautiful soul inside and out.
An alumnus of SUNY Cortland, she received her Bachelors in Physical Education (59’) and her Masters in Science (62’). She was a proud member of the Theta Phi sorority and lifelong member of the AAUW, a group of university women dedicated to provide support and financial scholarships to college age women in need.
She was an upbeat voluntary chauffeur for the neighborhood–to the ice skating rink, band and swim team practice, plays, and concerts. Ever living in the moment, she delighted in observing nature, listening to the sounds of birds and telling Leo that he was a good dog ‘most of the time.’ She was an avid keeper and orator of family chronicles and sender of greeting cards for every occasion.
Joan is survived by her children Andrew Ellis Johnson (Susanne Slavick) and J.
Christine Sinclair, her grandchildren Jaslyn (Pedro) Zarate and Noah Sinclair.
In addition to her parents, she is predeceased by her husband Dr. Ellis Allen Johnson, her son Thomas J. Johnson and her brothers Edwin (Clara - surviving) and David Pantley.
A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, May 24, 2005 at 12pm, at the Crown Alliance Church, 1 Bellevue Ave., Cortland, NY.
