JOAN PATRICIA BREYFOGLE BARTLETT
AAFA #0520
1933–2004
Joan and her dog
Rue
DAILY TELEGRAPH
London, England—_____ November 2004
Bartlett, Joan Patricia Breyfogle. Passed away
on Sunday, November 14th [2004]. Beloved wife of Derek. Adored mother of Jonica,
Peter and Robert and grandmother of Emma, Alexander and Nicholas, Kitty, Bonnie
and Tallulah.
Funeral Service at the church of St Michael the
Archangel, Warfield. Friday, November 19th at 2:30 p.m.... Donations to the M.S.
Society gratefully received c/o Lines Bannister, 69, High Street, Ascot, SL5
7HP.
AAFA NOTES: Joan died in England, so there is no SSDI
record.
Written by her husband, Derek Bartlett, for her
memorial service in OH:
Joan’s father, Robert, was the
son of William Roland Breyfogle and Mary Edith Johnston, both Ohio born. Robert
married Elsie McLaughlin of Toronto, Canada and he worked for 1st National City
Bank of New York, specializing in their overseas operations. For this reason
Joan and her brother Peter were born in Barcelona, Spain.
At the start of World War II
they were evacuated from Spain to Cuba where the family remained until the end
of the War. Robert was transferred to London in 1947 and lived and worked in England
for the rest of his life. Joan attended an English school but went to Vassar College
in the U.S.
My family lived some 6 miles
from the Breyfogles and Joan and I met at a New Year’s Eve party! We were
married in January, 1956 when Joan was 22 and I was 25 and were blessed with
three great children, Jonica, Peter and Robert.
Sadly, just before the birth of
our youngest, Robert, Joan was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. For a year
she was confined to a wheelchair and her vision and speech were impaired.
However, Joan had enormous courage,
determination and faith. She was not going to let MS defeat her. No drugs were
available for treatment and still aren’t but her doctor recommended a low fat
diet. By sticking to the diet and with unbelievable will power she slowly
improved. As time went by she was walking talking and seeing normally. For the
next 35 years she managed to control the MS and was able to partake in full
family life with her growing up children. She was a regular attendee at our
village parish church of St.Michael.
When the children had all fled
the nest, she turned her energies to family history and genealogy. In 1992 she
took a degree course in these subjects at London University and became very
active in the Daughters of the American Revolution, based in Washington DC. She
joined the Mexican Chapter of this organization and became their honorary
chaplain.
Joan’s great-great-grandfather,
Joshua D. Breyfogle took part in the Californian Gold Rush of 1849 and her
great-grandfather fought in the Civil War.
I was fortunate to know Robert Breyfogle’s
mother, Mary Johnston, who lived here in England for the last 15 years of her
life. She was an exceptional person, one of the kindest I have ever met. Joan
took after her!
Joan lived life to the full,
overcoming hip and knee replacement surgery, and finally contracted pneumonia
after we had made a short visit to Washington DC for her to attend a week’s
Genealogy course at the DAR headquarters in October 2004. She passed away 10
days after returning to England, only 3 months before our 50th Wedding
Anniversary.
As instructed in her will, Joan
was cremated, and half her ashes were buried in the family plot at Beechwood
Cemetery, Morning Sun, Preble Co., OH and half were retained for burial with
me, in due course!
It is very likely that Joan was not an Alford
descendant. The late Eileen Alford, who researched the line of Consider Alford
1778 England and wrote Alford-Kennedy Family History (San Antonio, TX, 1971),
told Joan that she was a descendant of Consider’s first daughter, but Eileen
did not know the daughter’s name. No Alfords appear in the online family trees
for Joan’s father and mother, and AAFA has not been able to identify any.
