Joanne Baumunk Ford, of Philadelphia, formerly of Shunk (Sullivan County, Pennsylvania), passed away on September 5, 2022, at 89. The cause was ovarian cancer.

Joanne was an energetic, passionate, and caring person with a wide range of talents and interests and a bottomless well of positivity. She loved trees, ferns, photography, building with wood, playing the recorder, singing, and, when younger, folk dancing. She was a member of Germantown Friends Meeting in Philadelphia, where she served on several committees and was involved in many causes promoting peace. She also served as a volunteer tour guide at Philadelphia-area arboretums.

She was born on December 27, 1932 to Lawrence and Caroline Baumunk and grew up in Shunk, where her family lived in the back of Baumunk's general store. She graduated in the class of 1950 from Loyalsock High School in Estella. She attended Lycoming College, then transferred to Boston University where she graduated in 1954 with a degree in political science. After a stint as a bank teller, she taught elementary school in two Massachusetts towns. She left teaching after marrying, and gave birth to her first daughter in 1959. In 1962 she remarried, to Kenneth Ford, who had two children by a previous marriage. Joanne and Kenneth added four more children to the family.

Joanne spent many happy years raising her children, volunteering at nature centers and libraries, and spending summers at Baumunk Lake near Ellenton. Her children and grandchildren continue to enjoy a family cabin there.

After living in Massachusetts, California, New Mexico, and Maryland, she and Ken moved to Philadelphia in 1984.  She made and kept many friends in all the places she lived.

Joanne spent much of her life devoted to children. In Philadelphia, she worked as an assistant teacher. In Socorro, New Mexico, she read to children in the library and started a small school in her home. The Joanne B. Ford Playground in Socorro is named in her honor.

Survivors include her husband of 60 years, Kenneth Ford; her five children, Nina Tannenwald, Caroline Richards (Keith), Adam Ford, Jason Ford (Abigail), and Star Ford (Crystal); her stepchildren Paul Ford (Wendy White) and Sarah Ford (Nick Monroe); and her thirteen grandchildren, Charlie, Thomas, Nate, Jasper, Colin, Hannah, Sky, Daniel, Casey, Toby, Isaiah, Nikolai, and Steven.  She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother and sister-in-law, Dale and Lucy Baumunk; and her first husband, Peter Tannenwald.

A graveside service of the internment of her ashes will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 22, 2023, at the Quaker Cemetery in Shunk (across from the church), with Rev. Herbert Eby officiating. A luncheon to follow at the Endless Winds Volunteer Fire Company also in Shunk.

The Pepper Funeral Home in Canton is assisting the family with local arrangements and invites family and friends to share memories of Joanne and condolences to the family by visiting their website at www.pepperfuneralhomes.com