Joan Cormack Staiko

Joan Cormack Staiko — originally from Scranton, PA and most recently residing in Tappahannock, VA — passed away on Friday, February 10, 2023.

She was the widow of E. Theodore Staiko (1988), also of Scranton. After marrying in 1957, the couple moved to Fredericksburg, VA where they started a family and lived until 1966, when they relocated to Warrenton, VA.  Joan lived in the same house until 2018 when she moved to Tappahannock to be closer to family.

Joan was a teacher, a memorable teacher who changed lives… and like only the very best teachers, she was always learning, always a student herself. She retired after 31 years in the Fauquier County School System, where she was an early member of the newly founded Gifted and Talented program, concentrating in the humanities. Curious, good natured, intelligent, with special zeal especially when it came to new information about nature or history or language (lie is intransitive, lay is transitive. Never forget that), Joan was always learning. She retired from pulling down a salary as a professional educator, but she never quit being a teacher.

Travel brought her special joy, and she enjoyed many trips across America and abroad. She saw a lot of the world and she wrote the best postcards. She loved the shore and the sun and sand and swimming (she was the only person we ever knew who really did do synchronized swimming as a team member at her beloved Cedar Crest College.

She was a life-long Girl Scout, and proudly so. She spoke with such gratitude and joy about many summers as a camper and a counselor at Camp Archbald (the 2nd oldest Girl Scout Camp in the country) in her home state of Pennsylvania.

She loved music and theatre and concerts and museums. She was integral to the formation of the handbell choir at the Warrenton Presbyterian Church, and played a major role in the early years of the choir as well as the Warrenton Chorale.

She leaves behind two daughters, Leslie (Staiko) Rennolds and Susan Staiko (Tappahannock, VA) and a beloved granddaughter, Hannah Elias Rennolds (Richmond, VA), as well as son-in-law, Benjamin S. Rennolds, step-grandsons Benjamin S. Rennolds, Jr. and his children, Willa, John Cason, Waverly and Rosabeth; and Gregory W. Rennolds (Leslie) and their children, Albert and Louise.

A Memorial Service will be held this spring.

Donations in her memory to a non-profit or charitable organization of your choosing would be an appropriate way to honor her memory.