Joanna Page Espy of Cold Spring, N.Y., passed away on Aug. 1, 2024, at New York-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital after a long battle with cancer.
She was born on Oct. 23, 1942, the daughter of authors Willard R. Espy and Hilda Cole Espy and grew up in Mount Kisco, N.Y. She graduated from MacDuffie School, which is a rigorous college preparatory school located in Granby, Mass. After that, she went to a famous secretarial school in New York City, The Gibbs School.
One of her first jobs was as an employee of the Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. She loved the Peace Corps. Her most cherished memory from that period was attending the March on Washington with her sister, Mona, and hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug. 28, 1963.
She later returned to New York, working as an assistant to Brandon Stoddard, an ABC executive who served as president of the network’s prime-time schedule. She had many interesting jobs. Her last job was working for lawyers at Price Waterhouse Cooper. PwC is considered to be the world’s most prestigious and progressive accounting firm, located in New York City.
Joanna was known for her zany and quirky humor, the joy she brought to the lives she touched and her incomparable generosity. She was a benevolent contributor to many and varied causes
Joanna is survived by her sisters, Mona Espy Schreiber of Mt. Pleasant, S.C., and Cassin Espy of Cold Spring, N.Y. She was predeceased by brothers Jefferson Taylor Espy and Freddy Espy Plimpton.
Joanna adored her nieces and nephews, Taylor Plimpton, Medora Plimpton, Alexander, Elliott, Joanna Bruno and Jeremy Schreiber. She loved her great nieces and nephews, too, and all her family members.
Joanna will be missed dearly by her family and many lifelong friends and especially her soulmate.
