Joan W. Derryberry, a lifelong resident of Westhampton, died on April 29 in Florida, where she had been staying the winter. She was 89.
Ms. Derryberry was born on February 13, 1925, and raised on Depot Road. As a child she was a fixture at her father’s flower stand, helping to sell bouquets to people leaving the train station. Survivors said she would recall weathering the 1938 hurricane at the Six Corners School and the devastation it brought to the area.
Ms. Derryberry spent much of her life serving the people and organizations of the Westhampton area. She had been active in Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Riverside Sunrise Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star, the Ecumenical Choir, the Westhampton Beach Historical Society, of which she was a founding member, the Eastern Long Island Quilt Guild, the Nassau/Suffolk Chapter of the Valparaiso University Guild and the South Fork Craftsmen’s Guild, but mostly her beloved St. Mark’s Church, where she received the Bishop’s Cross on her 80th birthday for her service. At St. Mark’s she was in the Altar Guild, the Episcopal Church Women and the Sewing Group and was a 70-year member of the choir, a yearly worker at the Summer Fair and helped with anything else she was asked to.
After graduating from business school, Ms. Derryberry worked as a secretary for the county, met and married Ernest Derryberry, a serviceman at the airbase during World War II, and later worked for the Westhampton Beach School District business office until her retirement. Survivors said all who knew her remember her caring and sweet attitude to everyone, her sharp mind and memory, and her quick smile and wit.
She is survived by a brother, Joseph Quickenden of Florida; a son, David Derryberry and wife Karen of Westhampton and Florida, a daughter, Linda Derryberry of Florida; four grandchildren, Matthew, Elizabeth, Kathleen and Thomas; and a great-granddaughter, Katherine. She was predeceased by her parents, Joseph and Edith Quickenden, and an older brother, William.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 15, at 1 p.m. at St. Mark’s Church in Westhampton Beach.
Memorial donations may be made to St. Mark’s Church, P.O. Box 887, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978 or the Westhampton Beach Historical Society, P.O. Box 686, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978.