BRIDGEVILLE - Joan Culver Williams Hart passed away peacefully July 12, 2018 at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital after battling myriad health issues in recent years. Joan left this world surrounded by dear friends and family at her side, including her devoted husband Wayne and daughter Julie, safe in the knowledge she was loved.
Joan touched the lives of many in the community. She was a lifelong Sussex County native from Delmar and Laurel with four brothers and one sister. Joan was daughter of Madelyn and Arba Culver, Arba being of Nanticoke Indian descent. She graduated from Laurel High School in 1955 and attended Goldey-Beacom College through 1956. Joan married James "Jimmy" Williams in 1958 who died tragically on May 17, 1975. The shock of this tragedy brought on a stroke in Joan's mother causing her death shortly thereafter.
Despite living through the trauma of losing her husband and mother the same week, Joan forged on and inspired others with her laughter and good cheer. In 1978, Joan married Wallace Wayne Hart. Joan and Wayne built a fulfilling life together over 40 years. Joan was well known throughout the region for her extraordinary cooking, piano playing, and fantastic sense of humor. She served as organist, pianist, and choir director for many area Methodist churches over the decades including Cannon, Portsville, Concord, Wesley, and Blades where she played her last service just one year ago before retiring.
Joan worked for Sussex Trust Bank, Manlove Automotive, Delaware Electric Cooperative, Wilmington College at Delaware Technical and Community College, among other institutions. Always the entrepreneur, Joan also ran a baking business for 20 years. "Cakes from the Hart" brought smiles to more than a thousand people through her delectables including cakes, cookies, and pies. Customers from far and wide dubbed Joan's creations the most delicious and moist baked goods on the Delmarva Peninsula.
Joan was predeceased by her parents and four brothers: William Robert (Bobby), Richard Lee (Dickie), Albert Staten, and Alan Phillip. Joan is survived by her daughter, Julie; husband, Wayne; and her sister, Bonnie. Known as the Culver matriarch "Aunt Joan," she consistently brought the family together over many decades with frequent parties complete with music, pageantry, and theater, all in esprit de corps with her treasured brothers and sister. Joan will be missed by her many nieces and nephews and valued friends. Her name said it all - she was all heart.
Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 11 a.m. at the Atlanta Road Alliance Church, 22625 Atlanta Road, Seaford, where friends may visit beginning at 10 a.m. Interment will follow services at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Seaford. Flowers for the memorial service may be sent to Atlanta Road Alliance Church to the address listed above, or donations can be made to Gideons International, www.gideons.org.
Arrangements are being handled by Parsell Funeral Homes & Crematorium, Hardesty Chapel, Bridgeville.
Please visit Mrs. Hart's Life Memorial Webpage and sign her online guestbook at www.parsellfuneralhomes.com