Obituary of Joan V. Bristow

Joan Virginia (nee Wollenberg) Bristow, 85 of Ho-Ho-Kus, died on May 18, 2018. She was born on May 7, 1933, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, to James Wollenberg and Dora Rubino. Joan was raised in Fair Lawn, West Milford, and Paterson, New Jersey. She lived in Ridgewood for 32 years and the last 24 years in Ho-Ho-Kus. She graduated from East Side High School in Paterson and Skidmore College, with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Joan was licensed as a nurse in New York and New Jersey. In the 1950s she was a nurse in Manhattan, working at University Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital. She lived in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, and Emerson, New Jersey, before moving to Ridgewood. While raising her three children and working at times as a nurse, she was also actively involved with the Orchard School Parent and Teacher Association, Skidmore Alumni committees, the auxiliaries of Paterson General Hospital, Passaic County Medical Society, and the New Jersey Psychiatric Association and the Ridgewood College Club. She was also actively involved with numerous school board and village council electoral campaigns in Ridgewood. For 21 years she worked at Daughters of Miriam Center/The Gallen Institute in Clifton, New Jersey, rising to the position of Director of the Gallen Institute for Subacute Care/Director of Rehabilitation Services. She also worked at Regent Care Center in Hackensack. She is preceded in death by her parents, including her mother, who lived to be 104 years of age, her beloved brothers James and Robert, and her former husband, William Harvey Bristow, Jr. She is survived by her loving children Jill Virginia Bristow of Ho-Ho-Kus, Lisa Ann Bristow of Bridgewater, New Jersey, and William Harvey Bristow III of Suffern, New York, daughter-in-law Margaret, beloved grandchildren William Harvey IV, Thomas Reilly, and Theodore Joseph, her brother William and Murphy. Joan loved nothing more than spending time with family and friends. She will be missed. Visiting will be held Monday, May 21, 2018, 2:00 to 4:00 and 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the Vander Plaat Funeral Home, 257 Godwin Avenue, Wyckoff, New Jersey. (www.vpfh.com) Funeral services will be held Tuesday, May 22, at 10:00 am at St. Gabriel the Archangel in Saddle River. Burial will follow at George Washington Memorial Park in Paramus. In lieu of flowers; memorial contributions may be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, St. Joseph’s Home, 140 Shepherd Lane, Totowa, New Jersey 07512.