Joan Switt Langbord

Joan Switt Langbord of Sarasota, FL and Philadelphia, PA, only child of Israel and Elizabeth Switt, beloved wife of the late Stanton Langbord, passed away in the early morning of December 3, at Pennsylvania Hospital at the age of 96.

Mother of Roy and David Langbord, grandmother to Mark and Bryan Langbord and great grandmother to two boys and two girls, Joan succeeded her father in operating I. Switt Jewelers, one of the oldest continuing businesses on Philadelphia’s Jeweler’s Row.

Joan was also involved in a multi-year legal dispute with the United States Treasury over the ownership of ten of the world’s most valuable coins, the 1933 Double Eagle.

From an early age, Joan was taught to help others and was active in charitable work her entire life. In World War II, as a teenager, she was a member of the Navy League, selling war bonds and raising funds to help sailors and their families. As an adult she was active in the Auxiliary of Mt. Sinai Hospital and was President of the Auxiliary of Albert Einstein Hospital as well as running their fairs and other events. She also was an active volunteer at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center and Children’s Seashore House.

In her later life, Joan served as Chairperson of Volunteer Services and the Patient Advocacy Office at Pennsylvania Hospital and was awarded with that Hospital’s Good Samaritan Award (as was her father), the Hospital’s highest honor.

A lover of theater and opera, she was also a patron of the Sarasota Opera and Ballet.

In honor of her memory, donations can be made to the Pennsylvania Hospital Langbord Fund that brings the gift of flowers to long term patients.  

If mailing in a check is preferred to an online donation.

The address would be

Development and Alumni Relations
3535 Market Street, Suite 750
Philadelphia, PA  19104

                                           Joseph Levine & Sons