Joan Louise Stanton

Joan Louise Woodruff Stanton passed away in the hospital on Sunday, February 13, 2022. She is survived by her caring husband of sixty years, Arthur H. Stanton III. Joan was born in Painesville, Ohio, Lake County on April 16, 1940, to Virginia Belle (nee Rayl) and Clinton Gordon Woodruff. She was preceded in death by her younger brother Doug. Joan attended Riverside High School in Painesville, where she was voted "most dependable" in her senior year, 1958. While in training to be a nurse at Huron Road Hospital, she met her future husband, Art, during a spring break trip to Florida. They married just six months later, in September 1961. She is survived by her three children and their spouses, Deborah Leigh Sacra (husband Richard), Laura Ann Stanton Muegge (husband Shad) and Arthur Gordon Stanton (wife Teresa), and seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

"Dependable" was the best word to describe Joan. She was a devoted wife and mother, an active volunteer in civic groups and the children's activities as they were growing up. She was a neighborhood fundraiser for the March of Dimes for many years. Joan also pursued her career as a nurse in Ohio and Connecticut, then worked together with her husband as he pursued his dream of running his own business in Tampa, Florida. After returning to her nursing career in Fort Myers, Florida, she was recognized with a "Commitment to Excellence Award" in 2005, just before her retirement, for her work in a midwife practice in the Lee Memorial Health System, caring for high-risk prenatal patients.

Joan and Art moved to the Atlanta area in 2011 to be near their son, Art, and his family. They are members of the Cumming First United Methodist Church. They loved their six decades of life together as a couple, traveling around the country and the world, playing bridge and vacationing with friends, and supporting their children in their education. Knowing that she was near the end of her life, Joan assured her family that she had had the life she always dreamed of, including a loving husband and children who made her proud.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, February 24 at noon at McDonald and Son Funeral Home in Cumming, Georgia. Visiting hour precedes the service, and a luncheon reception will follow. All are welcome.

Donations in memory of Joan can be made to:

Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) Hospital, Liberia, where her daughter and son-in-law are missionaries, to help those who cannot afford to pay for healthcare (simusa.org/give, enter ELWA Hospital Benevolence).

Faithful Fellowship Sunday School class charitable giving fund at Cumming FUMC to benefit local needs (cfumcga.com/give, click "Give Online" and designate the gift under "other"). Please note your gift is in memory of Joan Stanton.

The celebration of life service will be livestreamed on our website beginning 15 minutes prior to the service time.

Condolences may be expressed at www.mcdonaldandson.com.

Arrangements by McDonald and Son Funeral Home, 150 Sawnee Drive, Cumming, GA 30040 (770) 886.9899