Joan M. (Marpé) Rehm, 92, of West Stockbridge, died peacefully on June 14 at her home surrounded by her loving family. Joan was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on January 5, 1932. She was the daughter of the late Walter A. and Marie K. (McSweeney) Marpé. She was a graduate of Good Shepard Catholic High School and then graduated from The Assisium in New York in 1950.
Joan married the love of her life, Norwin H. Rehm, on April 19, 1952. Norwin predeceased her on August 1, 2022. Joan and Norwin were together for 75 years and married for 70 of those years. Before starting her family in East Islip, N.Y., Joan worked for an insurance company. Her first child was born in 1954 and her last child in 1959. After raising her family, Joan went back to work in the insurance business.
Norwin and Joan retired to the Berkshires to the summer home her parents bought in West Stockbridge back in 1929. Joan was a communicant of St. Patrick’s Church in West Stockbridge. In the 1960s, she was a member of The Island Hills Chapter of Sweet Adeline’s Chorus. She was involved in the Greater Years of West Stockbridge. She was also the past chair of the West Stockbridge Council on Aging, past president of the Alford Garden Club, and she was twice the president for The Thursday Morning Club, which was her pride and joy.
Joan is survived by her three children: sons Edward J. Rehm and wife Kathleen of Staunton, Va., and Robert K. Rehm and wife Michelle of St. James, N.Y., and daughter Katherine H. Rehm of West Stockbridge, with whom Joan resided. Joan also leaves two grandchildren, Edward J. Rehm Jr. and wife Heather of York, Penn., and Christine M. Rehm-Gannon and her husband Jack of Staunton, Va.; two great-grandchildren, Caitlin and Thomas Gannon; one brother-in-law, Kenneth G. Rehm; and several nieces and nephews. Besides her husband, Joan was predeceased by her brother William; her sister-in-law Esther Marpé of Arlington, Texas; her sister-in-law Eileen Rehm of Sayville, N.Y.; two nephews; and one great-nephew.
A special thank you goes to Karen Slavinski, Michael Angelini, Deb St. John, and Donald McClelland for being there for Joan. The family would also like to thank HospiceCare in the Berkshires.
Funeral Services for Joan M. Rehm will be held on Thursday, June 27, at 11 a.m., with a Liturgy of Christian Burial at St. Patrick’s Church in West Stockbridge. Burial will follow in St. Patrick’s Cemetery. Family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 26, from 4 to 6 p.m., at Birches-Roy Funeral Home, 33 South Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230. In lieu of flowers, expression of sympathy in Joan’s memory may be made to the Joan Rehm Scholarship Fund, in care of the Thursday Morning Club. Donations may be sent to the funeral home. Condolences may be made through the funeral home’s website.
