Joan Kittredge

Dorothy Joan Gray Knauss Kittredge, 92, passed away peacefully on August 5, 2024 at Eleanor A. Koons Hospice House of Easton, Maryland after a long illness.

Joan was born on June 1,1932 to Edward Charles Gray and Edith Baier Gray of Westfield, NJ. She graduated from Westfield High School and Skidmore College with a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Joan married Walter Paul Knauss, Jr. of Hartford, CT on July 2,1955 and together they had four children.

In 1969 Joan married Frank Dutton Kittredge originally of Dalton, MA.  They were married for fifty-four years until Frank’s death earlier this year. Together they lived in Potomac, MD, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Miami, FL, Darien, CT, Singapore and finally Easton, MD making friends and enriching the communities along the way.

Joan was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother, a generous hostess, talented artist, avid traveler and energetic outdoorswoman. She was active in her communities including establishing a Visiting Nurses Association in Pittsfield, MA. She treasured many friends from her youth in Westfield, her college days at Skidmore, from her international travels and from every community in which she lived.

She joined the Talbot County Garden Club in 1994. She served as Second Vice President, Vice President and President from 2003-2005. Joan was instrumental in the Garden Club of Talbot, being invited to become the 196th member of the Garden Club of America and the 13th club in Zone VI. Some of the civic projects she was involved with included the Historical Society Garden, Wreaths, Pilgrimage and installing a meditation garden at the Hospice House and a lovely Children’s Garden in the local park. While an active member, the Talbot County Garden Club received the Eastern Shore Conservancy’s award for their work in “beautifying the town of Easton, Maryland, making it a desirable town in which to live, work and play”.

Joan is predeceased by her parents, her aunt and adoptive mother Dorothy Baier Gray, infant sister Edith, Joan’s first and second husbands Walter Knauss Jr. and Frank Kittredge, and her beloved granddaughter Kaitlyn Knauss.

Joan is survived by her four children and three stepchildren Karyn (David) Schoem, Eric Knauss, Page Knauss, Curtis (Kingsley) Knauss, Frank (Cynthia) Kittredge Jr., John (Donna) Kittredge and Laura (Tim) Parker. She is also survived by five grandchildren and seven step-grandchildren Adina (Joe Vainner) Schoem and Shana (Garrett Schumann) Schoem, Christine Knauss, Eric and Avery Knauss, Rachel, Emily (Vincent Vasquez) and Henry (Laura Jalalian) Kittredge, Sam and Max Kittredge, Holly and Charlotte Parker. Joan’s great grandchildren include Noa and Talia Schoem-Vainner, Isaac and Gerald Schumann and step-grandchild Juniper Vasquez. Joan is also survived by her cousin Elaine Lowrey and nephews Bruce and Peter Lowrey.

A celebration of Joan’s life will be held at the Talbot Country Club the weekend of October 12th. Those wishing to attend should RSVP to Joan’s son Curt Knauss at cknauss@comcast.net or 908-361-0560.

The family requests that donations in her memory be made to The Eleanor A. Koons Hospice House of Easton, Maryland at Talbothospice.org/donate, Wes William, Director 410-822-6681.

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