Joanne M. Friedman

She was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph and Delfina Masci, Metuchen, NJ. Mrs. Friedman is survived by her loving husband, Clifford Pysher; daughter, Jessica Culnan of Carmel, IN; step-daughters, Rebekah Rinaldi and husband, Tony, of Bangor, PA, Lisa Buccieri and husband, Joe, of Saylorsburg, PA; stepson, Neil Pysher and wife, Shannon, of Saylorsburg, PA; brother, Joseph R. Masci, M.D., and wife, Elizabeth Bass; nephew, Jonathan Masci of Manhasset, NY; and was the proud grandmother of Dillon and Kaitlin Culnan, Grace and Luke Rinaldi, Mylah, Makalah, Jonah, and Liam Buccieri, and Savanna and Abigail Pysher.

Joanne was born in New Brunswick, NJ on January 30, 1948. She graduated from Metuchen High School in 1965 and earned a B.A. from Clark University and a Masters in Education from the University of Hartford. Joanne began her teaching career in her hometown of Metuchen. After spending a few years in Redbank, NJ, with her first husband, Bruce Friedman, she moved to Newton, NJ in 1981 where she spent 25 rewarding years as a teacher at Newton High School working in the areas of special education and English. She was known as a mentor of the Calliope literary and fine arts magazine and was honored as Teacher of the Year for her dedication in 1995. Joanne also taught classes for adults at Sussex County Community College in her spare time.

In 1997, Joanne, with Clifford began the operation of Gallant Hope Farm. In 2006, she retired from teaching to run her equestrian facility full time; there she raised, trained, showed and shared her love of horses with others. When not spending time with her horses, she was particularly fond of operating her tractor with the front end loader on it. Joanne also wrote four books about horses as well as a blog, Horses in the Yard. In addition, she published more than 300 articles and non-fiction stories on a wide range of topics from mortgage and finance to party themes. She also enjoyed country line dancing, ballroom dancing, spending time outdoors and roller skating. Joanne was an ordained Minister of the Universal Life Church and was an avid supporter of the N.J. Performing Arts Center, The Newton Theater, The American Cancer Society, Project Self Sufficiency, Mercy Ships, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Children, her local community and many other non-profit organizations.

A memorial visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 19th, 2022, at the Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, 63 High St, Newton, NJ.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers and cards, donations be made in Joanne's memory to any of her favorite non-profit organizations.