Joan Marlene Surdykowski

Joan Surdykowski went to be with the Lord on May 3, 2026, at the Hudson Valley Hospice Home in Hyde Park. She was born on June 5, 1933, in Newburgh, NY to John and Jane Berry and raised with 5 sister-siblings (aka "The Berry girls") and a brother, Gary Dreyer.

Joan graduated as salutatorian from Newburgh Free Academy (NFA) in 1950. Having been voted as "most likely to succeed" on her graduation from NFA, Joan worked as a legal secretary at a prominent Newburgh law firm. Born today, Joan would have certainly been a high-powered attorney.

Joan married Edward Surdykowski in 1952. The most important feature of Joan and Ed's marriage was their meeting as new Christians at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Newburgh and dedicating their lives to a close relationship with the Lord and one another.

Joan and Ed had five children - born between 1953 and 1960. All the siblings are still alive and well and in close Christian relationships with one another. They want to celebrate and glorify God for the life and love of Joan Surdykowski who has supported and helped form them through the decades.

Upon the arrival of children, Joan dedicated her efforts to care for a young family of 7. Prominent memories included our always having clean and ironed clothes, school lunches with each child's name on the bag arrayed along the top of the portable dishwasher to grab on the way out of the house before a parting kiss from mom.

Ed was trained as a photographer in the Army Air Corp during the occupation of Japan after World War II. That led to his eventually being hired as a photographer by IBM and the family's moving from Newburgh to Poughkeepsie in 1964. There Joan and Ed had a home constructed in a new development near Titusville Elementary School in LaGrange - leading to a stereotypical and somewhat idyllic neighborhood experience of growing up through the turbulent 60s and 70s.

A benefit of a new development is that neighbors are open to forming relationships. Each year there was a picnic held in the geographic center of the block of houses during which the kids marauded in whatever activities they could think up while the parents caught up on events and sharing about life from the past year. During those early years, Joan and Ed joined a "PIGS" dinner club - named because the participants were "Polish, Irish, German, and Scottish" surnamed couples who rotated their dinners among their homes.

Joan and Ed's sociability was most pronounced in their joining and helping to establish the Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Wappingers Falls. Carel, the second child, was featured with a shovel in the Poughkeepsie Journal for the ground-breaking of the church in 1964. There Joan and Ed were active in Sunday School, Bible Schools, Couples Clubs, and picnics - enjoying close community fostered by the life of Christ all had in common.

Of special note was how much Joan and Ed loved traveling the country. Ed liked driving and Joan was an early riser so together they made frequent trips to see their children and grandchildren in Minnesota and Southern California. For them the long drives were a "feature and not a bug" because it allowed them to take in the grandeur of the country and the national parks together.

Joan and Ed's home was always a place of hospitality. It ran the gamut from having guest pastors over for Sunday lunch to providing summer housing for IBM college interns. Kids, grandkids, and great grandkids stayed there while life situations and new home options got worked out - Grandpa was unbeatable in "Old Maid" card games!

Ed died at age 89 in 2016 after 63 years of marriage. Joan remained in her home until just prior to her death - lately cared for by her oldest daughter Jeanel. Joan is survived by Jeanel Donnatien, Carel and Michael Gordon, Joel and Susan Surdykowski, David and Delia Surdykowski, and Ellyn and Bill Loenhorst, and 18 grandchildren and 29 great grandchildren. Joan is additionally survived by her sister Eva Davis and her brother Gary Dreyer and his wife Darla.

It is with this backdrop that we are joining in the commemoration of Joan at a 11:00 a.m. memorial service at Immanuel Church on Saturday, May 30, 2026, to be followed by a luncheon in the church fellowship hall. Feel free to wear clothes you regard as celebratory of her. The address is Immanuel Church, 253 Myers Corners Road, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590.

Donations can be made in Joan's memory to Immanuel Church, 253 Myers Corners Road, Wappingers Falls, NY 12590 or Hudson Valley Hospice House, https://www.hvhospice.org/hospicehouse/.