Phoebe Joanne Thompson

Phoebe Joanne Thompson, 87, went home to be with the Lord on June 1, 2025, in her home.  Joanne was born in Martindale, Pennsylvania to the late Arnold and Ruth Witmer. In addition to her parents, Joanne is preceded in death by her husband, Richard G. Thompson, and brothers Paul Witmer and Marvin Witmer.

Joanne was a long time active member of Capitol Baptist Church, where she served in the nursery, teaching youth Bible classes, and sewing school uniforms for students. The family extends sincere gratitude and thanks to Capitol Baptist Church for all the prayers, cards and visits over the last few years.

Joanne worked at ILC for over 30 years, where she was a part of the research and engineering team.  While at ILC, she was part of the team that worked on the Appollo space program to make space suits for the astronauts, and she helped make Neil Armstrong’s gloves.  She was interviewed by various news networks over the years for stories and documentaries about the space program, and the Smithsonian recorded her voice explaining how the gloves were made for one of the exhibits. 

Joanne enjoyed cooking, reading, sewing and crocheting; she even taught her grandson how to sew and crochet.  Above all, Joanne enjoyed being with her family and taking care of her grandson. She had a great sense of humor and was generous and giving of her time and talents to anyone in need. Her presence is greatly missed.

Joanne leaves to cherish her memories her daughters, Christina Wolf (Gary) of Dover and Karen Green (Chris) of Magnolia; her grandson, Nicholas Green; her siblings, James Witmer, Verna Horst, Edith Weaver, David Witmer, Miriam Sauder; a host of nieces and nephews; as well as many friends.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, June 13, 2025, at 11:00am at Pippin Funeral Home.  The family will receive friends one hour prior at 10:00am.  Burial will follow at Sharon Hills Memorial Park in Dover.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Phoebe Joanne Thompson, please visit our floral store.