Joan Reaney Chapple, 94 of Homestead Village in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, passed away peacefully on Friday December 25th. She was the daughter of the late Paul and Mary Reaney of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, and loving wife for over sixty years to the late Albert W. Chapple.
Joan graduated from Harrisburg School of Nursing and from Columbia University Teachers College in New York. She was an Operating Room Supervisor at Mt. Sinai Hospital, NY and later Administrative Assistant, Nursing Service at New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center.
She had a lifelong interest in fine cooking. While on vacation in Paris, she attended Le Cordon Bleu. She studied with notable chefs including Jacque Pepin, Albert Stockli and Craig Claiborne. She ran a cooking school in Ridgefield, CT where she emphasized technique rather than recipes. She also volunteered at the First Presbyterian Church soup kitchen in Charlottesville, VA for more than 15 years. Whether it was one of her famous dinner parties or a special occasion family dinner, it was a memorable event if Joan was preparing one of her amazing meals.
Her other interests included gardening, nature conservation, reading and travel. She had a deep love of birds, dogs, and all kinds of animals. It was at her former house in Charlottesville, Virginia, surrounded by trees, deer and squirrels, that she really felt at home.
Joan also had an authentic interest in knowing the people around her and never missed a detail about people’s lives. She treated her friends like family and will be missed by many.
She is survived by her daughter, Jennifer Chapple of Arlington, Virginia and twin granddaughters, Megan and Madison. She is preceded in death by her husband Albert, her son, Stuart and her brother James Reaney.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, PA where a service to celebrate her life will be determined once we can safely gather and put our arms around each other. She has donated her body through Gifts of Humanity for medical research.
Memorial contributions can be made in honor of Joan’s love of cooking and feeding people, to World Central Kitchen at donate.wck.org
Our gift this Christmas was the reuniting of Joan and Albert who are surely hand in hand, watching over those they loved.
Lois Brower
So sorry for your loss. I took classes with Joan in Ridgefield and use the techniques I learned to this day. I taught Stuart in fifth grade.