Joanna G. Gabel

December 11, 2016

Joanna Griffith Gabel of Gladwyne died peacefully early on the morning of December 11th, 2016 at the age of 104. She was born on April 29, 1912, the daughter of Harry H. Kneis and Ida Drumheller Kneis of Lansford, Pennsylvania and sister of Matilda Kneis Coxe. She graduated from Lansford High School and Wilson College and later received a Master of Library Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia. She then worked for several years as a reference librarian at the Philadelphia College of Art. She was a long-time volunteer and trustee of the Gladwyne Library and a member of the Jefferson Hospital Women’s Board. She was married in 1940 to Dr. Reynold S. Griffith, who died in 1985. In 1987, Joanna married Richard Gabel of Norristown, who died in 1990. She is survived by a daughter, Mary Griffith Lynch, of Portland, Maine; 2 grandchildren, Stephen M. Lynch of Brooklyn, N.Y. and Rebecca Lynch Nichols of Pownal, Maine; 4 great-grandchildren; as well as 4 step-children: Caroline Gabel of Chestertown, MD; Landis Gabel of Fontainebleau, France ; Eloise Gabel Smyrl of Newtown Square, PA; and Marianne Gabel of Delaware, Ohio. Her Funeral Service will be held on Saturday December 17th. at 10 AM in the Chapel of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church 625 Montgomery Ave. Bryn Mawr, PA. Burial will be private in Summit Hill, PA. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Gladwyne Free Library, 362 Righters Mill Rd., Gladwyne, PA.