Joanne P. Poland

March 22, 1939 – June 13, 2025

Joanne Priscilla Poland passed away at the age of 86 on June 13, 2025, in Rochester, New York, after a brief decline. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1939, she was the daughter of John Alexander Russell and Charlotte Rosalind (Green) Russell. Joanne grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and graduated from Weymouth High in 1956. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in sociology (1960) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Master of Divinity from Yale University (1962).

Joanne and David Poland were married in 1960 and started their family in North Branford, Connecticut, in 1963. They joined the Center Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut, and were active members for 10 years until they moved to Fayette, Alabama, in 1970. In the winter of 1974, they moved north and purchased their house in Pittsford, New York, where their kids grew up. At that time Joanne and David joined what became the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester. For many decades, Joanne was very active in all aspects of the life of the church. She served as a church elder and deacon and on many committees as she took on the social justice issues important to her church community. After Joanne joined the church, her talent for Christian education was recognized; she was hired to create the Resource Center for the Presbytery of Genesee Valley, which served the clergy and lay leaders of the many Presbyterian churches in the region. Joanne participated in and led many conferences for the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE). In later years, she volunteered at the Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network (RAIHN) and in the Rochester City Schools. She will be remembered for her soft-spoken manner, radiant smile, and quiet and intelligent leadership. 

Joanne gave endless amounts of love to her family and was always there to listen and offer sage advice. She enjoyed traveling with David and her kids. International travels were planned around meeting up with friends in other countries. In recent years, she participated in a monthly Zoom book club of friends from her old Pittsford neighborhood. She also enjoyed hosting family gatherings at home in the Brickstone Senior Community in Brighton, New York. There she also enjoyed visits with long-time friends and getting to know new people in the community. She and David were adopted by their loving co–in-laws and extended Greek family. For more than three decades, they enjoyed shared holiday meals, parties, and religious celebrations. Though Rochester became her home, she always considered herself a New Englander at heart and yearned to be by the ocean, to hear the sound of the surf and to smell the salt air.

Joanne was predeceased by both of her parents. She is survived by her two brothers, James (Ann) Russell of Columbus, Ohio, and Thomas (Teresa) Russell of Bristol, Rhode Island; her husband of 65 years, David Poland; three children, John (Andrea) Poland of Macedon, New York; Timothy (Beth) Poland of Penfield, New York; Anne (George) Tsimboukis of Canton, Connecticut; and four grandchildren, Eva Tsimboukis of Worcester, Massachusetts, David Tsimboukis of Canton, Connecticut, Leah Poland of Chicago, Illinois, and  Owen Poland of Rochester, New York.  She also leaves behind her niece, Julie (David) Gregory of Villa Hills, Kentucky, and nephew, James Russell of Columbus, Ohio.

Joanne’s family would like to thank the kind aides of Touching Hearts at Home who helped make the days easier and brighter and the staff at Highland Hospital who made her smile in her final days.

A memorial service will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 13, 2025, at Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, with reception to follow. Interment will be held privately at White Haven Memorial Park in Pittsford, New York.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to your charity of choice.