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Seacoast NOW Action Alert Archive
May 20, 2004

Sad news about the loss of a friend

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May 20, 2004

Action Alert
Sad news about the loss of a friend

Dear Seacoast NOW members and friends,

It is with heavy hearts that we must share the news that a dear friend and a dedicated activist left this world on Tuesday. Joann Lipshires was a longtime Seacoast NOW member. She hosted our annual Garden Party for over a decade. She entertained us regularly with her wonderful poetry. And she helped mold our activist agenda, with her passion for peace and justice. She will be deeply missed.

A Woman is Like a Tree
By Joann Lipshires

She who felt like an Orphan of the Earth
Became a Seeker of the Truth.
She overcame the twilight
And grew perpendicular,
Sometimes scarred,
Sometimes blasted and misshapen,
But always heliotropic -
Always arranging her limbs and bark,
Her needles, her potential
To fit her design for a tree of dignity.

From the Portsmouth Herald:
www.portsmouthherald.com/news/05202004/obituari/17126.htm

PORTSMOUTH - Joann Breen Lipshires, 83, of Portsmouth, died on May 18, 2004, following a period of failing health.

Born on February 24, 1921, in Hanover, Mass., Lipshires was a daughter of Edward P. and Eileene M. (Murphy) Breen and was raised in Scituate, Mass. She graduated from Simmons College in Boston and later received a master's degree in education from Antioch College.

She was a second lieutenant in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps, serving her country during World War II.

She taught for a number of years at Gorham High School and Lebanon High School. She was a strong labor union activist and was employed by the New Jersey Education Association from 1975 until her retirement.

She was a talented actress who performed in summer stock at the Weathervane Theatre in Whitefield, the Hartford Stage Company in Hartford, Conn., and at the Repertory Theatre in New Britain, Conn. A gifted poet and author, she published two books of poetry and enjoyed sharing them with her many appreciative readers and friends. One of her best-loved creations was a wry fellow named Dwinel, an imaginary Yankee character whose escapades Lipshires related in a dry, downeast accent.

Upon retirement, Lipshires moved to Portsmouth, where she owned and operated The Cottage bed and breakfast in her Victorian home. She greatly enjoyed her guests, appreciating their experiences and points of view, and entertaining them with accounts of her own life and her works of poetry. She was skilled at creating beauty both in her home and in her lovely flower gardens, which were enjoyed by so many.

She is survived by her loving daughters; Patricia Yourdon of Shelter Island Heights, N.Y., and Lisa Lipshires and her husband Mark Andre of Northampton, Mass.; a granddaughter, Jennifer Coffey, her husband James and their son Liam Coffey; her sister, Nancy Grade, of Santa Monica, Calif.; and her two strong and loving friends, Jill Nooney and Bob Munger.



For more information, email Seacoast NOW at info@seacoastnow.org.

Last Updated May 25, 2004