Joan Y. (Young) Long

Joan (Young) Long

Of Murrysville, PA

Joan Virginia Young Long, 92, of Murrysville, PA, died Friday, May 28, 2021 at 10 AM.  Born Dec. 30, 1928, in Arnold, PA, she was the daughter of J. Dewey and Edith Schaeffer Young.  She spent much of her life explaining that her name was pronounced in two syllables because she was named for the woman who had written the alma mater for Slippery Rock State Normal School, a faculty member admired by her father, who had an athletic scholarship at the school.  On the day she was four months old her parents moved to the home they had built near Melwood Park in Allegheny Twp., Westmoreland County.  A 1946 graduate of Arnold High School, most of her public school years were in Allegheny Township.  She worked in sales, offices, waitressing, and housework in order to continue her education at Muskingum College, where she earned a B.A. in English and Spanish, with a minor in education in 1950.  She received a Master of Science in Library Science from the Carnegie Library School of the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1956.  Additional study included a year at Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, and a number of courses at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. After brief periods of teaching in Adena, Ohio, Franklin Regional School District, and Freeport, PA, she spent the last 29 years of her professional career as school librarian at Monroeville Junior High School in Gateway School District.  A Life Member of the American Library Association, she was active in the Council of School Librarians of Suburban Pittsburgh. Mrs. Long had many joys in life, one of which was her love of dogs.  Her cocker spaniel’s puppies supplemented her college expenses, but none was more special than her beloved cairn terrier, Kerry.  She spent many hours corresponding with friends, relatives, and pen pals.  A fondness for reading, photography, gardening, the arts, and travel, having visited the British Isles on five different occasions and the German-speaking countries on two, were blended to provide her with much to occupy her time.  For many years after her retirement in 1985, she volunteered at the Monroeville Public Library, providing displays which enabled her to use the extensive collection of scale miniature pieces and literary figures from her travels.  From 1954 to 1974, she was married to Edward L. Long.  Mrs. Long is survived by her sister Helen Y. (Fred) Becker, of Lynchburg, VA, a sister-in-law Patricia J. (Ripper) Young, of Murrysville, PA, five nieces, 3 grand-nieces, and two grand-nephews.  She was preceded in death by her brother Edward G. Young, a niece, and a nephew.

Family and friends are invited to the CHURCHFIELD-PETERS FUNERAL HOME, 501 Fifth Avenue, New Kensington, PA  15068, for a service to be held at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 with the Reverend Lisa Dormire, officiating. Private burial will follow at Greenwood Memorial Park, Lower Burrell.    For online condolences and more information please visit www.petersfamilyfuneralhomes.com.  ​Memorial contributions can be made to the: Monroeville Public Library, 4000 Gateway Campus Blvd., Monroeville, PA  15146

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joan Y. (Young) Long, please visit our floral store.