Joan Dawley Maher

Joan Dawley Maher, a Decatur, Georgia resident, died on January 23rd at the age of 85. She was born May 8, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Edwin R. and Josephine Heffernan Dawley. A true Brooklynite, she was raised, married, and started her family in Brooklyn.She was predeceased by her husband, John Maher, in December of 2015 after 61 years of marriage. She is survived by their five children: Jeanne Marie Maher of Damascus, MD (R. James Alwood); John A. of Pittsburgh, PA; James A. of Oakland, CA; Helen M. Brownell of Decatur, GA, (Robert); and Thérèse M. Pfeifer of Lewisville, TX, (Thomas). She is also survived by seven grandchildren, and one great granddaughter.

Joan resided in Brooklyn, NY; Port Washington, NY; Montgomery, AL; and Carlisle, PA; prior to settling in Decatur, GA in 2006. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the State of New York; a law degree from The Dickinson School of Law; and two master degrees from the University of Pennsylvania's Fels Institute of Government.

Upon graduating law school in 1980, Joan clerked for a Pennsylvania appellate court judge. She later served as the Assistant Director of Corporate Finance Division for the Pennsylvania Securities Commission. Throughout her life, Joan pursued various commercial, community, and charitable roles including managing her family's funeral home in Brooklyn, NY; and serving on various board memberships including St. Christopher's R.C. Orphanage in Sea Cliff, NY; Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland & Perry Counties in PA; and the Board of Governors to The Dickinson School of Law to which she was elected by fellow alumni.

Joan was active in several church based associations and the religious education of youth at her Port Washington, NY, and Carlisle, PA parishes. In 1970, at the insistence of The Vatican's Cardinal Tisserant, Joan was invested by the Archbishop of NY as a Lady of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher.

Joan's remains were cremated. A memorial mass will be held at 10:00 am on Saturday, January 28th at Saint Thomas More Catholic Church in Decatur. Family will visit guests at the church thirty minutes before the mass. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The National Aphasia Association at P.O. Box 87, Scarsdale, NY 10583 or www.aphasia.org, or The John A. & Joan D. Maher Scholarship at Southern Illinois University School of Law (Contact: Thomas C. Britton, Director of Development, at 618-453-8980 or thomasb@foundation.siu.edu). A. S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home & Crematory, Decatur GA



Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033