Joan M. (Wachsmuth) Hale

Joan M. (Wachsmuth) Hale, of Ipswich, formerly of Hamilton, died Monday May 11, 2015 in the Salem Hospital following her brief illness.

Born in Flushing NY, she was the daughter of the late Henry J. and M. Margaret (Adlington) Wachsmuth.   Joan and her family moved to Warner, NH  in 1943. She graduated from Simons Free High School in 1954 and attended Keene State Teachers College in Keene NH where she met her husband. She left school to join her husband on his tour of duty with the US Army at Fort Bragg, NC.

After Fred’s tour of duty in 1958, the couple made their home in Goffstown, NH until their move to Hamilton in 1962.  While she was living in Hamilton Joan got her B.S in Education from Salem State where she earned a Gold Key Award upon her graduation in 1970.

For many years, Joan sold real estate for the Mary Ketchem Agency of Hamilton, and later joined the R. M. Bradley Corp in Boston where she worked as a property manager.

Joan loved tennis, skiing, sailing, hiking and camping. She was an active member of the First Church in Wenham for over fifty-five years, where she served as a Deacon and as Christian Education board member and teacher.

She is survived by her husband of fifty-eight years, Fred W. Hale of Conway, NH, and two sons, Kenneth John Hale of Portsmouth, NH and Stephen Fred Hale and his wife Marilyn Kaylor of Black Mountain, NC.

A Memorial Service will be held 10 am Saturday, May 16 in the First Church in Wenham, Main Street, Wenham. Family and friends are respectfully welcomed. Arrangements are under the direction of the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home of Ipswich.