In Memory of
Joan Neal Johnston
Dorsey (Johnston)
Dorsey (Johnston)
1930 -
2016
2016
Obituary for Joan Neal Johnston Dorsey (Johnston)
"Jesus loves me this I know, though my hair is white as snow.
Though my sight is growing dim, still he bids me trust in him.
Though my steps are sometimes slow, with my hand in His I'll go . . . ."
In a holy moment on Sunday, February 14, 2016, Joan Neal Johnston Dorsey, 85, of Salem, took His hand. She finished her phenomenal race buoyed by the love and presence of her three sons as they celebrated her remarkable finish.
On a day associated with love, Joan's life ended after having been spent in loving service to her family, her God, church, community, and profession. A devout Christian and lifelong member of First United Methodist Church in Salem, Joan, regardless of her church title, served the church largely as one of its louder moral voices. She loved, and had her love returned by, her entire "church family."
Seeing a need for families who were seeking employment but needed short term assistance with food and shelter, she helped create the Interfaith Hospitality Network which permitted these families to use available space in local churches. That program became Family Promise of Roanoke.
Working with the Salem Area Ecumenical Ministries (SAEM), a nonprofit group started by a small group of church members, including Joan, she was instrumental in starting the Clothes Closet to help provide good quality donated clothing to those in need in the Roanoke Valley. Last August, the Clothes Closet honored her contributions by renaming itself "Mrs. Dorsey's Clothes Closet."
Also within SAEM, she planted the seed for Feed and Read which helps feed children who would otherwise miss meals while out of school for the summer. As of 2014 over 14,000 meals had been provided to Salem and Glenvar area students.
As a member of the United Methodist Women, Joan administered the Shoe Voucher Fund which assists in providing shoes to those in need. When described as a "godsend and rock of this community" in connection with this work, Joan responded, "I don't feel like I've done anything. The Lord has blessed me with great people to help in this community." Humility notwithstanding, Roanoke College honored her with the Charles Brown Award for significant contribution to the quality of life in the City of Salem. Joan acted on her belief that faith can strengthen the community by helping others with acts of kindness.
Dedicating herself to assisting in the mystery that lets us know the contents of each other’s minds, Joan's professional vision was to help those with problems of language. After attending Sullins College and Roanoke College, she was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Speech Correction when that department consisted of her and four others. She committed thirty-five years to the Roanoke Valley Speech and Hearing Center, fostering its growth from makeshift quarters in the basement of the old Gill Memorial to a position of prominence as the preeminent speech, language, and hearing facility in Southwest Virginia, with audiological suites and a mobile center.
Described at her retirement as "the founder of speech pathology in the Roanoke Valley," Joan served on the Council of Exceptional Children, the Roanoke Valley Autism Society, and helped found the Lost Chord Club, a support group for persons with laryngectomies. She maintained professional licensure, lectured and published professionally, and was one of ten speech professionals honored by the Speech and Hearing Association of Virginia in its inaugural award for special contributions to the field of speech and hearing.
The enormity of her other contributions was eclipsed by her service of love and example to her family. Formally recognized as Mother of the Year in Business and Professions in 1983, she always had that recognition in the hearts of her sons and grandchildren. As a single mother of three sons she was patient but abiding, strong, resilient, and in all things, a force of softness. While laughing, loving, sharing, and crying, she seemingly effortlessly ironed out the wrinkles in three souls while trying to find the time to iron out the wrinkles in three shirts. She had no fear of grubbing in the dirt with three boys but was always able to step out with the wings of angels.
An ardent feminist in the true sense, she convinced all that her choices and her values were important. She was a model of kindness, honor, and courage.
Possessed of an indomitable will and unquenchable curiosity, she learned to use email at age 76 due to her own increasing deafness though she saw no need for punctuation or capitalization, sent letters and cards often written sideways in a myriad of colors with underlining, served as a general contractor for the renovation of her home, often sending subcontractors to answer a barrage of questions while providing workmen with drinks and snacks of their choice, kept up with her UVA basketball team with a level of knowledge that often surpassed her sports-minded grandchildren, and embraced her grandchildren’s' "rebranding" of her own name to "GMaJ."
While hospitalized, Joan voiced her frustration by asking, "If I can't get out of here, how am I going to help people?" If Heaven has needs, a new program to address them surely started yesterday.
Born on Sunday, April 20, 1930 in the old Jefferson Hospital, Joan otherwise spent her entire life in Salem, excepting education. Joan was predeceased by her parents, Russell Moorman Johnston and Helen McNeal Johnston; and her daughter-in-law, Deborah Hatcher Dorsey.
Left to cherish her memory are her sons, Charles Nealson Dorsey, Douglas Russell Dorsey, Jeffrey Laing Dorsey and his wife, Joan's beloved daughter-in-law, Carol Dorsey; as well as her grandchildren, Jennifer Dorsey Goff (Darren), Rachel Dorsey Hall (Tanner), Maggee McNeal Dorsey, Christopher Kagey Dorsey, Andrew Russell Dorsey, Charles Moody Dorsey, John Alexander Dorsey, and William McNeal Dorsey; numerous treasured friends; as well as her two sisters, Patricia Johnston Stinnett and Karen Neal Johnston.
The family expresses heartfelt gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and staff of the medical ICU and 3 West at Lewis-Gale Medical Center.
A period of visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17 2016, and a Celebration of Life at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2016, both at First United Methodist Church in Salem.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mrs. Dorsey's Clothes Closet or the church. Online condolences may be expressed at www.johnmoakey.com.
Though my sight is growing dim, still he bids me trust in him.
Though my steps are sometimes slow, with my hand in His I'll go . . . ."
In a holy moment on Sunday, February 14, 2016, Joan Neal Johnston Dorsey, 85, of Salem, took His hand. She finished her phenomenal race buoyed by the love and presence of her three sons as they celebrated her remarkable finish.
On a day associated with love, Joan's life ended after having been spent in loving service to her family, her God, church, community, and profession. A devout Christian and lifelong member of First United Methodist Church in Salem, Joan, regardless of her church title, served the church largely as one of its louder moral voices. She loved, and had her love returned by, her entire "church family."
Seeing a need for families who were seeking employment but needed short term assistance with food and shelter, she helped create the Interfaith Hospitality Network which permitted these families to use available space in local churches. That program became Family Promise of Roanoke.
Working with the Salem Area Ecumenical Ministries (SAEM), a nonprofit group started by a small group of church members, including Joan, she was instrumental in starting the Clothes Closet to help provide good quality donated clothing to those in need in the Roanoke Valley. Last August, the Clothes Closet honored her contributions by renaming itself "Mrs. Dorsey's Clothes Closet."
Also within SAEM, she planted the seed for Feed and Read which helps feed children who would otherwise miss meals while out of school for the summer. As of 2014 over 14,000 meals had been provided to Salem and Glenvar area students.
As a member of the United Methodist Women, Joan administered the Shoe Voucher Fund which assists in providing shoes to those in need. When described as a "godsend and rock of this community" in connection with this work, Joan responded, "I don't feel like I've done anything. The Lord has blessed me with great people to help in this community." Humility notwithstanding, Roanoke College honored her with the Charles Brown Award for significant contribution to the quality of life in the City of Salem. Joan acted on her belief that faith can strengthen the community by helping others with acts of kindness.
Dedicating herself to assisting in the mystery that lets us know the contents of each other’s minds, Joan's professional vision was to help those with problems of language. After attending Sullins College and Roanoke College, she was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Virginia with a B.S. in Speech Correction when that department consisted of her and four others. She committed thirty-five years to the Roanoke Valley Speech and Hearing Center, fostering its growth from makeshift quarters in the basement of the old Gill Memorial to a position of prominence as the preeminent speech, language, and hearing facility in Southwest Virginia, with audiological suites and a mobile center.
Described at her retirement as "the founder of speech pathology in the Roanoke Valley," Joan served on the Council of Exceptional Children, the Roanoke Valley Autism Society, and helped found the Lost Chord Club, a support group for persons with laryngectomies. She maintained professional licensure, lectured and published professionally, and was one of ten speech professionals honored by the Speech and Hearing Association of Virginia in its inaugural award for special contributions to the field of speech and hearing.
The enormity of her other contributions was eclipsed by her service of love and example to her family. Formally recognized as Mother of the Year in Business and Professions in 1983, she always had that recognition in the hearts of her sons and grandchildren. As a single mother of three sons she was patient but abiding, strong, resilient, and in all things, a force of softness. While laughing, loving, sharing, and crying, she seemingly effortlessly ironed out the wrinkles in three souls while trying to find the time to iron out the wrinkles in three shirts. She had no fear of grubbing in the dirt with three boys but was always able to step out with the wings of angels.
An ardent feminist in the true sense, she convinced all that her choices and her values were important. She was a model of kindness, honor, and courage.
Possessed of an indomitable will and unquenchable curiosity, she learned to use email at age 76 due to her own increasing deafness though she saw no need for punctuation or capitalization, sent letters and cards often written sideways in a myriad of colors with underlining, served as a general contractor for the renovation of her home, often sending subcontractors to answer a barrage of questions while providing workmen with drinks and snacks of their choice, kept up with her UVA basketball team with a level of knowledge that often surpassed her sports-minded grandchildren, and embraced her grandchildren’s' "rebranding" of her own name to "GMaJ."
While hospitalized, Joan voiced her frustration by asking, "If I can't get out of here, how am I going to help people?" If Heaven has needs, a new program to address them surely started yesterday.
Born on Sunday, April 20, 1930 in the old Jefferson Hospital, Joan otherwise spent her entire life in Salem, excepting education. Joan was predeceased by her parents, Russell Moorman Johnston and Helen McNeal Johnston; and her daughter-in-law, Deborah Hatcher Dorsey.
Left to cherish her memory are her sons, Charles Nealson Dorsey, Douglas Russell Dorsey, Jeffrey Laing Dorsey and his wife, Joan's beloved daughter-in-law, Carol Dorsey; as well as her grandchildren, Jennifer Dorsey Goff (Darren), Rachel Dorsey Hall (Tanner), Maggee McNeal Dorsey, Christopher Kagey Dorsey, Andrew Russell Dorsey, Charles Moody Dorsey, John Alexander Dorsey, and William McNeal Dorsey; numerous treasured friends; as well as her two sisters, Patricia Johnston Stinnett and Karen Neal Johnston.
The family expresses heartfelt gratitude to the physicians, nurses, and staff of the medical ICU and 3 West at Lewis-Gale Medical Center.
A period of visitation will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, February 17 2016, and a Celebration of Life at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, 2016, both at First United Methodist Church in Salem.
Memorial contributions may be made to Mrs. Dorsey's Clothes Closet or the church. Online condolences may be expressed at www.johnmoakey.com.
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