Joann Louise Alexander

Joann Louise Pennefeather Alexander passed away on October 11, 2022. She was born November 18, 1929, in Syracuse, NY to Joseph and Mildred Pennefeather. Joann was known as Penny in high school and early adulthood. She graduated from Hyattsville High School and the University of Maryland. She loved the natural world and was most at home in the outdoors where she could garden, study insects and the cycles of nature. She advocated for environmental causes throughout her life. Joann worked for USDA for about 25 years, at the Smithsonian and then the Beltsville Agricultural Farms. Highlights of her career included rearing cockroaches for a Smithsonian exhibit, being published in The Explorer Magazine, and participating in a NASA project on cockroach reproduction in weightlessness. Joann was a member of the Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church for over 50 years. She also enjoyed creative writing and music. She was a member of the Goddard Space Flight Center Music and Drama Club and a volunteer at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Visitors Center. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters Ellen P. Hadder and Mildred G. Pennefeather. She leaves behind her children Scott (Elizabeth) Alexander of Billings, MT, Karen (Tom) Schmitt of Concord, NC and Lynn (Jim) Dorsey of Severna Park, MD, her sister Jane (Bill) Lifsey of Denver, NC, 4 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service celebrating her life will be held on Monday, November 14th at 1:30 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Silver Spring. In lieu of flowers, Joann would be honored by a donation to either the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, Friends of Patuxent - Donate, or her church, Give to Paint Branch Unitarian Universalist Church (breezechms.com)