Joan Ida Driscoll

Joan Ida McDine Driscoll, 81, passed away peacefully with family by her side on Sunday, September 22, 2024, of Lewy body dementia. Joan was preceded in death by her adoring husband, Don Driscoll (1930-2015,) and together they raised four children. Joan was born in Pittsburgh on October 8, 1942, to the late James and Bertha McDine. She was the only daughter in the family with three brothers; Jim, Charlie and Joey. Shortly after graduating from Baldwin High School, she met Don Driscoll, a reporter for a local newspaper covering the Miss South Hills Beauty Contest, in which Joan placed second. He asked her out to a Pirates game the next day, and Joan always said she won the prize despite not coming in first. They married in 1961 and began a family ten months later with the arrival of their first child. In 1973, Don and Joan moved to O'Hara Township, where they raised their kids and started a fun-filled life with close friends in the neighborhood. Joan was a Girl Scouts Den Mother, and she and Don enjoyed planning many community events, including a long-running Fourth of July Block Party. In the late seventies and eighties, Joan became a successful real estate agent working for Howard Hanna and then rose to Kelly-Wood Agency manager. Joan was blessed with a green thumb and, on a warm day, could often be found in her garden tending her flowers and vegetables. She was an accomplished seamstress, and Halloween and school costumes were always the best in the neighborhood. Joan enjoyed cooking new recipes and family favorites, including Knadles with Sauerkraut; she loved holidays and searched for Christmas gifts year-round. Joan and Don loved to travel and visited many places worldwide, from Alaska to the Panama Canal to the great cities of Europe. She had a soft spot for all animals, including her dogs—from her Boxer, Belle, to Squire, a Springer Spaniel, and then two Giant Schnauzers, Baron and Bo, and then her final best companion, a Cockapoo named Dash. In later years, Joan became very involved with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Fox Chapel, was active in the Christ Child Society, and volunteered for many community outreach programs. Her work with the teenage girls at Bassler Cottage (at Glade Run) was especially dear to her heart. Joan is survived by her loving children Diane Driscoll, Janet Smith (Thomas Smith), Susan Driscoll, and Donald Driscoll, her brothers Charles McDine and Joseph McDine, as well as her grandchildren, Alexandra and Conan Smith. She relished her role as their Gram, teaching them to make Snickerdoodles, taking them to the zoo, or watching Disney's Fantasia in her warm and inviting home. A celebration of Joan's life will be held Saturday, November 2, 2024, at 10am at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Fox Chapel, 1610 Powers Run Road, Pittsburgh 15238, with a reception immediately following at the church. In lieu of flowers, please plant a tree in Joan's name at Arbor Day Foundation www.arborday.org

Joan Ida Driscoll

October 8, 1942 - September 22, 2024