Joan Ross Spratt

Joan Ross Spratt passed away quietly at her home in Milton, GA on July 19, 2017 at the age of 93. She was born Joan Priscilla Beryl Ross on June 28, 1924, to Stuart and Mary Ross of Staten Island, NY, but called Atlanta her home for the last 65 years. Growing up on Staten Island during the 1930’s and 40’s, Joan had many interesting and life-affecting experiences. During the Great Depression, she met many Broadway performers through her father’s business. After the U.S. entered World War II, she would sit on the porch of her family’s home, “Eastover”, and watch troop ships sailing out of New York Harbor. Three of her brothers were on those ships, so those events had lasting impact. At one point on a visit of President Franklin Roosevelt to New York, she was selected to hand him a bouquet of flowers. After WWII she was employed at an infirmary in Manhattan, and by her recounting met and talked with Albert Einstein occasionally while riding the Staten Island Ferry. In the early 1950’s, through a mutual family friend from Atlanta, GA, she met Henry Guerard Spratt, Sr. They married in September, 1952, and a grand wedding reception was held on the lawn of “Eastover” overlooking New York harbor. Joan and Guerard then moved to the Buckhead area of Atlanta. There she raised four children, 3 boys and a girl. Joan was actively involved in her children’s schools, and in their family parish, St. Phillips Episcopal Cathedral. She helped organize many paper sales for E. Rivers Elementary School in the 1960’s, and Joan gained a reputation for making beautiful hobby-horses for sale at St. Phillips “Fun Fairs”. She was also a devoted Republican, serving as the Chair of the Party’s Buckhead district in the 1960s and 1970s. In the late 1960’s she started working for Davison’s Department store (owned by Macy’s) in Downtown Atlanta. For 25 years she worked in various positions for Davison’s, but most notably in the buying offices of the China and Electronics Departments. Upon retirement and after the passing of Guerard, she and daughter Valerie moved to Alpharetta, GA, where they lived for 29 years. During those years Joan was beloved by a growing family for her cooking, her annual Easter egg hunts, her love of gossip magazines, and her open house policy. More recently, Joan and Valerie moved to nearby Milton. Over the past decade Valerie helped Joan enjoy a wonderful quality of life even as Joan became less able to do things for herself. Routine trips to the family mountain house near Asheville, NC, and to Hilton Head, SC (where Joan was known to eat three dozen oysters at one sitting!) provided some of the adventure. Joan was preceded in death by her beloved husband Guerard, her parents Stuart and Mary Ross, her brothers (Donald, Cecil, Yorke, Bruce, Kenneth, Stuart, and David), and her sister (Jean Atkinson). She is survived by two sisters: Valerie Cronin of Melbourne, FL and Gwendolyn Ross of Alpharetta, GA; her four children: Henry G. “Rardy” Spratt, Jr. (Anne) of Chattanooga, TN; Stuart N. Spratt (Alicia) of Jasper, GA; Valerie G. Spratt, of Milton, GA; and Bruce R. Spratt, of Atlanta, GA. She is also survived by 8 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren (who lovingly knew her as “Grano”), and by many nephews, nieces, and grands. Joan was dearly loved by her extended families that include Spratts, Richards, Cronins, Atkinsons, and many others. Visitation with the family will occur on Sunday, July 23rd at 11:30 AM, followed by the funeral service at 1:00 PM at H. M. Patterson, Oglethorpe Hill funeral home (4550 Peachtree Rd, Brookhaven, GA). Interment will occur at Arlington Memorial Cemetery (201 Mt. Vernon Hwy, Sandy Springs, GA) immediately following. In lieu of flowers, donations to either the American Heart Association or the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy (847 Case St., Hendersonville, NC) would be appreciated. Joan (“Sissy”) will be greatly missed. May God bless her and make His face to shine upon her forevermore!