Joan E. Wagner

JOAN ELEANOR (NIEDERMEIER) WAGNER passed peacefully at home in her daughter’s arms on June 6, 2025. 

Joannie was born on August 20, 1927 in Rochester, NY to Hazel (Turner) and William Niedermeier.  Her sister, Phyllis, was born two years prior.  The family splitered when Hazel passed from cancer at a young age and the teenage girls went to live with their Aunt Winifred “Punchie” and Uncle Eugene Ward on the family farm in Webster, NY.  Joannie spoke often of her duties on the farm, picking fruit and collecting eggs.  In her later teens, she went to work at the Kodak Hawkeye manufacturing plant on the camera assembly line and then to become a switchboard operator for Rochester Telephone Company. 

Joannie married her sweetheart, Elmer (“El”) E. Wagner, a decorated World War II veteran, on October 23, 1946 in Rochester.  She supported El through his continued education at Paul Smith’s College and the University of Michigan, last working as a University hospital switchboard operator.   They welcomed daughter Bonnie Joan (Wagner-Westbrook) in 1953 while living in Watertown, NY.  El’s promotion within the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation brought the family back to the Rochester area and a lovely home on the Erie Canal in Pittsford, NY.

Joannie was well known for her love of the arts, nature, animals and especially companion animals going back to her childhood.  The family was never without a canine and/or feline presence.  Joannie rescued many a feathered, hopping, or prancing friend.  Not only did she make and keep a beautiful and spotless home, she WAS home to El and Bonnie.  Joannie kept the greater family together and was a loyal and loving friend to many fortunate people.  Her chocolate chip cookies and Christmas fruitcake were legendary.  Joannie was a wonderful, mother, much like the mother she lost so early and missed so much.  She was never petty, never unkind, and always 100% authentic.  If anyone needed help, Joannie was there.  El passed on May 30, 2014 with family by his side.  His military service was recognized by an honor guard at his memorial gathering.

In later years Joannie and El came to live with Bonnie and her husband John (D. Westbrook) in Clinton Township, NJ.  They shared their home with many rescued felines and Joannie helped Bonnie with the daily feeding of several community cat colonies in the area. 

Joannie is survived by Bonnie, her fluffy companion cat “Muffin,” and two nieces and one nephew, Phyllis Klemuk (“Nick,” d 2020) and Steven Woolcot of St. Thomas, USVI and Barbara Ricketts (Elton) of Deltona, Florida.

A memorial service for Joannie will be held at the Scarponi-Bright Funeral Home in Lebanon, NJ on Saturday, June 21, 2025 beginning at 1:30 p.m.  In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to your LOCAL humane organizations in Joannie’s name.  Words cannot describe this profound loss.

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