Joan Elaine Prall, 85, of Westminster and formerly of Hampstead, passed away on May 21, 2016.
Born April 26, 1931 in Wilson, Pennsylvania she was the daughter of the late Earl Stanley and Anna Sabila Schippers Heil. She was the wife of the late George Meldrum Prall, Jr., of New Jersey.
She was a graduate and valedictorian of Hackettstown High School. She excelled in English and botany studies, graduating from Beaver College, Pennsylvania, now Arcadia University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree. She taught school and worked as an editor for Bell Laboratories prior to her marriage. The couple settled in Hampstead, Maryland after living first in Hialeah, Florida and Catonsville, Maryland.
While raising four children, she was a reporter for the Hampstead-based Carroll Record, the Westminster-based Carroll County Times, and the Hanover Evening Sun, Carroll County Edition. As a reporter, she especially enjoyed reviewing plays at the Morris Mechanic Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland, and writing feature articles about interesting people in her area and their projects. She wrote books entitled Mills and Memories, Schoolbells and Slates, and Hampstead: Its Heart and History, as well as a children’s book for Hampstead train station restoration fundraising, and a memoir of her experiences as a newspaper reporter.
She was an excellent seamstress, pianist, organist, and devoted homemaker and helper for her four children and farming husband. She enjoyed exploring new places with friends and family, winning radio trivia contests, spotting four-leaf clovers, and growing beautiful roses.
Joan was a former member of the Melrose Homemakers Club, the Historical Society of Carroll County, and the Thomas Wolfe Society. She also was a volunteer for Meals on Wheels. She attended St. Paul's Lutheran, then Boring United Methodist, and later New Windsor Presbyterian Church and Krug Chapel while she was a resident at Carroll Lutheran Village.
Surviving are her children Elizabeth Kenline, Thomas Prall, Willow Prall and Holly Prall; sister, Nancy Almer; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends Wednesday, May 25, 2016 from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Eline Funeral Home, 934 South Main Street, Hampstead. A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Thursday, May 26, 2016 at Krug Chapel at Carroll Lutheran Village, Westminster with Chaplain Jimmie Schwartz officiating. Interment will be in New Cemetery of Somerville, Somerville, NJ.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Historical Society of Carroll County, MD.