Joy Petersmeyer Wolff

February 13, 1926 – September 1, 2015

Joy Petersmeyer Wolff died peacefully on September 1, 2015, in her home in Providence, Rhode Island at the age of 89. A lifelong Californian until relocating to Little Compton, Rhode Island in 2004, she had moved to Providence in 2010. Aptly named, she brought great joy to all who knew her. Upbeat, spirited, and always sporting that infectious smile, she will be greatly missed.

Joy was born in Los Angeles and attended schools in Northern California, including Berkeley High School and the University of California, Berkeley, where she was affiliated with Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. She married her husband of 55 years, insurance executive George Wolff Jr., in 1946. They raised their family in San Francisco, often in Stinson Beach on weekends, and ultimately retired to Healdsburg where they became active members of the grape growing community. George passed away in 2001. Joy was also predeceased by her two older brothers, Quayle Petersmeyer and Wrede Petersmeyer.

Joy was an avid tennis enthusiast, accomplished gardener, a talented seamstress, and had a life-long passion for music. Over the years she enjoyed her affiliations with the Edgewood Auxiliary and the Town & Country Club in San Francisco and channeled her energy for her love of tennis from the courts of Golden Gate Park to the California Tennis Club to the Lagunitas Country Club and then to the Newport Casino Lawn Tennis Club in Newport, Rhode Island, where enjoyed playing on the grass courts into her 80’s.

She also enjoyed the outdoors, hiking and international travel. She particularly loved the Yosemite high country and spent many happy times there with family and friends. She took a keen interest in traveling internationally with each of her grandchildren.

In her later years she was a member of the choir at the United Congregational Church in Little Compton and the choir of the Central Congregational Church in Providence. At the time of her death she was a member of the Handicraft Club and the Hope Club, both in Providence.

Survivors include her daughter, Anne Wolff Page (Charles Page) of Tiverton, Rhode Island; a son, H. Ward Wolff (Polly Nicolaus) of Greenbrae, California, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The family requests donations in Joy’s memory be made to the Yosemite Conservancy, 101 Montgomery Street, Suite 1700, San Francisco, CA 94104.