Joanne Rondestvedt

Joanne Worley Rondestvedt died March 15 of complications resulting from the COVID-19 virus. She was 92 years old.

Jo Worley was born on August 5, 1927 to F.E. Worley and Ruth Potter Worley in Hamden, CT. She was graduated from Pembroke College (now Brown University) in 1949 and received her Masters of Social Work from the Smith College School of Social Work in Northhampton, MA.
She was employed at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute in San Francisco, where she specialized in working with troubled teens, when she met and married Cmdr. David R. Rondestvedt, USCG. Together, they played bridge and sailed on San Francisco Bay as often as time permitted. In 1974 the couple returned to Connecticut, where Jo kept house for her aging father in her childhood home in Spring Glen. After his death and that of her husband she continued to live in the house; only downsizing in 2007. For the past three years she has been a resident of Elim Park Place in Cheshire, CT.

Jo was a life-long flautist and passionate lover of orchestral music. For many years she played first flute with the Hamden Symphony Orchestra and she also played with Orchestra New England in New Haven. She kept a subscription to the Metropolitan Opera and traveled frequently to New York City for performances as long as her health allowed. She was a member of the Spring Glen Congregational Church and the Spring Glen Garden Club. She was a long-time member of P.E.O. and past president of Chapter C in Hamden. She had an interest in history and was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames 17th Century. She loved to travel to visit family and discover new places. She kept house with a series of cats and displayed a definite preference for orange toms.

Jo Rondestvedt is survived by her elder sister, Jane Worley Peak of McLean, VA, and by her nephew and nieces and their children: Roger (and Leandra) Peak of Charlevoix, MI; Nicki (and Cris) Birch of Vienna, VA; and Marty (and Frank) Helman of Boothbay Harbor, ME. She was much loved by her step-children: Aria (and Albert) Kasuga of Burlingame, CA; Capt. Chris (and Cheri) Rondestvedt, USN retired, of El Cajon, CA; Jesse (and Helen) Rondestvedt of Mukilteo, WA; and Louise (and Zaher) Murad, of Chico, CA; and she was a loving grandmother and great-grandmother to their children and grandchildren.

Interment will be at the San Francisco National Cemetery-Presidio, next to her husband Dave. The Alderson-Ford Funeral Home in Cheshire is assisting with the arrangements.