OSTENDORF, Joan Marie (Donahue)
Civic Leader, Volunteer and Fundraiser. Was born December 9,1933 in her beloved Boston to Genevieve Morrissey Donahue and John Stanley Donahue. She grew up between Duxbury and Beacon Street until moving to Chestnut Hill. She was a student at the Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (1952) before receiving her BA from Marymount College in 1956. After postgraduate studies in education at Boston University, she taught in Boston and Waltham public schools from 19561962. Joan adored teaching as much as she loved Boston, however after meeting Edgar Louis Ostendorf II, love took her to where she would spend much of the rest of her life, Cleveland, Ohio.
Her father helped to save Boston Common and cared deeply about the parks remaining public land. Luckily for the city of Cleveland, Joan took a cue from her father’s civic interest.
Joan devoted herself to organizations involved in health care and the arts upon her arrival, taking on leadership roles in the city’s most renowned non-profit and civic organizations. She was a member of the Junior League of the City of Cleveland from 1964, including serving as VP in 1972-73.
She served as a founder of the women’s committee of the Cleveland Orchestra, serving as its first Vice President in 1975. Throughout the city’s challenges and rebirths, the couple remained a formidable team and champions for Cleveland.
Her involvement with the Cleveland Institute of Music spanned decades.
She was President of the Board from 1980 to 1982. She was also President of the Music and Drama Club of Cleveland from 2001 to 2003 before becoming an Honorary Member. Her love and support for music education also includes her work as VP of the Cleveland International Piano Competition.
Her passion for Cleveland extended beyond her support for the arts. She was a Trustee of the Women’s Committee of University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve Medical School
(1974), and Benefit Chair of the Visiting Nurses Association (1987-1988). From 1977-1987, Joan represented the city of Cleveland as a delegate to the Assembly of the United Way. Joan was an active member of the Intown Club, Chagrin Valley Hunt Club, and 21st Century.
She was also a member of the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston for 60 years.
A devoted Catholic whose faith was central to how she lived, she had a quiet strength and refusal to complain and always maintained a twinkle in her eye no matter the obstacle. She kept her quick wit until the very end. Quiet and thoughtful, she cared more about impact than being memorialized, however she will undeniably be remembered for her extraordinary elegance, effortless sense of style, and taste for natural and artistic beauty.
Joan had an ability to connect with everyone she met. She preferred the company of the porter to the president and was a gifted listener who made everyone she spoke with feel equally seen and heard, taking a keen and genuine curiosity in what others were curious about. Her influence continues across Cleveland, felt by many who might not know her name, in hospitals, schools, and music venues.
Most of all she enjoyed the company of her only daughter and closest confidante, Mary Beth Ostendorf Harvey, from NYC. She will also be dearly missed by her son-in-law Christopher Harvey and four grandchildren, Brendan, Grace, Jack and Patrick Harvey. Fiercely independent in life, Joan was so grateful for the care provided to her at the end of her life by a generous community of caregivers.
Services will be held in Cleveland and open for all those who loved Joan.
For further information, directions, live stream details and to sign the guestbook, please log online to: www. Brown-Forward.com
Brown-Forward Service 216-752-1200