Born on January 31, 1928, to her parents William Archibald Greenaway and Adeline Lavon (Miller) Greenaway at home on Shaw Avenue in Dayton, Ohio. Joan was the first of two children. Preceded in death by her parents, husband, William Joseph Bridges and her sister-in-law, Wanda L (Stockslager) Greenaway. Joan's brother William Allan Greenaway survives and currently resides in Trotwood, Ohio. She is also survived by her sons William Joseph Bridges Jr. of Frederick, CO, Robert Alan Bridges of Ventura, CA, and Michael Lee Bridges of Sarasota, FL, seven (7) grandchildren and six (6) great grandchildren.  She was also preceded in death by close family in-laws, Mark Jerome & Mary Lou (Ach) Bridges, Ned Gene Snyder & June Mathilda (Bridges) Snyder, Harry Bert Shroyer & Ruth Geraldine (Bridges) Shroyer, Vernon John Wilken & Virginia Lee (Bridges) Wilken.

She and her parents lived and rented a home on Ashwood Avenue in 1930, and this experience contributed to Joan and William purchasing a home on Ashwood after they were married. Her childhood was spent growing up in the family's Shiloh home at W. Orchard Springs Drive. Prior to 1931, Orchard Springs was called Maple. The home had water from a well, driven by hand pump and outdoor toilets.

She attended Shiloh Elementary School and Fairview-White High School, graduating in 1946. During this period, Colonel White High School had Freshman and Sophomore grades. Fairview was the Senior high with Junior and Senior grades, hence the name Fairview-White.

Joan worked at Gallaher's Drug Store, located on North Main St., when she was age 16. She worked at Stanley Manufacturing, a greeting card company in Dayton. She also worked for Ohio Bell Telephone Company just prior to her marriage to William.

Joan met William on a blind date, arranged by her friend Betty McKibben and Mark Jerome "Jerry" Bridges (who became her brother-in-law). They went to Wampler's 'Old Red Barn' for a dance. They dated for a while. William told Joan that she needed to quit work at the phone company because they were going to be married.

She married William J. Bridges on 14 Feb 1948, a Saturday. Services were held at the Old Shiloh Church (now removed). The reception was held at the old 'Pappy's Kitchen', which later became the Barnsider restaurant, on North Main Street. Their honeymoon was at the old Miami Hotel in downtown Dayton. They had a very nice dinner at the old King Cole restaurant, noted for their scallops and seafood. Joan had a lifelong love affair with lobster tails and could devour multiple of them in a single sitting.

While raising her three children, she was active in the Parent Teacher Association at Loos Elementary School. Though she had no daughter of her own, she did volunteer work with the Girl Scouts of American and for the Cub Scouts of America. She and William were frequent chaperones at elementary school dances. She also worked as a volunteer at the North Riverdale Little League Auxiliary group in support of Little League Baseball. She was supportive of all her children's youth activities and helped in any way that she could to ensure that her children were happy, healthy, and successful. She built a strong foundation for all of the boys, which manifested in very successful families and careers.

Home for many years was on Ashwood Avenue in North Riverdale. After the death of her mother, Joan and William moved into the Greenway home on W. Orchard Springs Drive in Shiloh, a community north of Dayton.

Much of their time in Shiloh was spent renovating the house, making it just like she wanted it. Life continued there until age caught up with them. William could no longer do physical work and climbing stairs was also ruled out. That precipitated a move for them to Hamilton where son Michael and all his family were living. Moving closer to family seemed like the best thing to do.

She and William led a very modest life, paid for everything in cash, and travelled on vacations by automobile. Joan was very close to her younger brother William Allan and toward the end of her life, spent much time together in either Trotwood or in Hamilton at her home. She also enjoyed winters in Sarasota, Florida for a number of years after William's retirement. She liked walking along the beach and looking for shells.

Joan will be deeply missed for many reasons, but most of all for the memories of the childhood stories that she and her brother shared, time after time. Sitting with them both and hearing stories of growing up in Ohio were marvelous to hear. Although those days of peace, calm and prosperity are now gone, they are not forgotten.

Services will be held later in Ohio.