I cannot tell you when Joan Manley first popped into my life but she is pretty much there from the beginning of my MMA experience which goes back over thirty years. She was a long-time MMA supporter and served on the MMA’s Board of Managers for many years, as well as the Preservation and Repair Committee for more years than I can count. She was a fixture and always there to help out.

Joan and the MMA’s librarian Jane Stroup, also ran the Garden of the Sea down the street and around the corner from the MMA.  Joan made sure that the MMA’s buildings were always dressed for summer with pots of plants on each porch and entry. Joan was a quiet but strong person. She had an opinion but mainly kept it to herself. In my mind, she is always wearing khakis – sometimes khaki shorts – and a button down, rolled up at the elbows. Once or twice I remember a wrap-around skirt for a special occasion. But it was the khakis and button down that were sort of her uniform. 

When Jane and Joan sold their house and the garden, the garden went to the Nantucket Land Bank which today allows everyone to continue to enjoy its open space on the corner of Angola Street. That’s how Jane and Joan operated. Even though the greenhouse and outbuildings are gone, the house and the garden will forever be Jane’s and Joan’s to me. When they moved they went out to Sherburne Commons and I would still see Joan here and there. After some thoughts to moving off island, Joan did decide to stay and while I didn’t see her regularly, it was nice to know she was here. She gave several pieces to the MMA, including a painting of the rear of the MMA Science Library (now Research Center) by Bob Durand and a carving by Jane of an owl head in marble. Jane also sculpted and her brother, John Stroup, was an artist as well.

Poor health led Joan to leave island in the last year. She went to be near her niece whom she was living with when she passed away. Joan had asked me to take care of Jane and John’s headstone in the cemetery which I have done and will continue to do for her – and them. It will be sadder now knowing that Joan is not with us. 

The step, however small, which is in advance of the world, shows the greatness of the person, whether that step be taken with brain, with heart, or with hands. – Maria Mitchell

JNLF