Online Archives

Joan Riley Brewer, 76, the wife of the late Rev. Joseph Tucker Riley Sr., died May 25 at Sunnywood Assisted Living in Westminster. She had Alzheimer’s Disease. Her funeral service was held June 2 at the Reisterstown Baptist Church with the Revs. John Rudd and son John Riley officiating.

She and Joseph Riley were married in 1963, while he was serving as a Protestant chaplain at the Springfield State Hospital in Sykesville, where he worked from 1959 until his death in 1974. They had one son, who was 8 at the time of his father’s death.

It was her second marriage. Her first, to Conrad Thomas Ganong of Westminster, ended in divorce. They had four children.

Brewer was a long time
member of the Reisterstown Baptist Church and sang in the church choir. She had many hobbies and interests including writing poetry and tending her house plants. She played the harpsichord and enjoyed cooking for family and friends.

In 1976, she married Donald Edwin Brewer, who died in 1995.

Survivors include children Michele Ganong Bailey of Westminster, Raymond Ganong of Louisville, Ky., Cindy Lu Ganong Shifren of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., David Ganong of Bishopville and the Rev. John Riley of Hildebran, N.C. Also surviving are stepchildren Richard “Kyf” Brewer of Bucks County, Pa., Robin Brewer Karpinskey of Ohio, Tucker Riley and David Riley, both of Baltimore; and 11 grandchildren.

Condolences may be sent to her son, Rev. John Riley, P.O. Box 461, Hildebran, NC 28637.