Joan B. Weinrott

December 8, 2020 of Haverford, PA. Joan grew up in Elkins Park and attended Cheltenham High School, graduating in 1950. She was offered a senatorial scholarship and entered the University of Pennsylvania that fall, the first in her family to attend college. In the spring of 1951, she married Joel Weinrott. A year later, she gave birth to her first child, Jon. While Joel was in law school at Penn, Joan gave birth to her second son, Jim. The young family eventually moved to BalaCynwyd and in 1957, to Penn Valley. Joan's third child, Jill, was born in 1959. Joan was always very close to her parents, Joe and Selma Benjamin, and was said to speak by phone with her mother every day, a practice Jill and Joan continued for decades. Joe was an avid baseball fan, and listened to Phillies' games religiously. He passed on that love of the game, and the Phils, to his daughter. She, in turn, passed these gifts on to her three children. Joan was a beautiful woman, with an uncanny ability to put a smile on the face of all around her. She had a rich and varied network of friends. She began playing bridge competitively in the late 1950s, and it was in that arena that she found her glory. In the summer of 1969, she and her partner, Jane Segal, won a tournament in Atlantic City. The victory made each of them Life Masters. For many years, Joan taught bridge at a half dozen country clubs in the Philadelphia area, as well as on cruise ships. She was well known in the local bridge community for how much she gave of herself as a teacher. Aside from the Peanut M & Ms that got her through her most difficult bridge games, her favorite foods were fried shrimp, ice cream sundaes (from Hymies in Narberth or Lou's in Ventnor),fried chicken and Stouffer's corn and spinach souffle. Her favorite beverage was Pepsi and whole milk poured over ice served in a highball glass. In 2000, Joan was named the Goodwill Member of the Year of the American Contract Bridge League at the Nationals, held that year in Pittsburgh. The plaque commemorating the award, hung in her bedroom at her home in Bryn Mawr and then for nearly 14 years in her room at the Quadrangle in Haverford where she passed away. Joan remains in the hearts and minds of her children and their spouses, Jon (Lori) Weinrott, Jim (Brigitte) Weinrott and Jill(David) Akre, her grandchildren Phi, Sam, Gabrielle, Julien, Jessica and Samantha and her great-grandson, Felix. She is pre-deceased by her brother, Bob Benjamin, and her husband, Joel Weinrott. Services and interment are private. A Zoom shiva will be held on Sunday evening, December 13, 2020. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to benefit Abramson Hospice Care (www.abramsonseniorcare.org/donate)