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Services
Friends may visit with the family from 3-5 and 7-9 PM on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 9:30 AM from the funeral home on Thursday, June 16, 2016 and then to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 580 Ratzer Road., Wayne where a 10:30 AM funeral mass will be offered. The interment service will be held at a later date.
Joan Verchinski, age 84, of Wayne passed Saturday, June 11, 2016. She was born in Olyphant, PA and graduated from the Scott High School in Olyphant with the Class of 1949. After high school, she worked at the Daystrom Company in Archbald, PA. Joan met her first husband, Myron Potash, while she was picketing out in front of Daystrom. One of Myron’s friends told him there was a cute girl working there so he drove by the picket line to take a look. They eventually married in July of 1952 and were gifted with four children. After just fifteen years of marriage, Myron passed away from complications he developed after surgery. Joan found herself as a widow but was determined to stay at home to raise and provide for her children. As a result, Joan became extremely organized, thrifty, and was renowned for giving her children specific chores before they could go out to play. Under Joan’s house rules, there were no chores that were specific to a boy or a girl, rather every child was expected to participate in mopping, sweeping, doing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc… Only after every chore was completed and received Joan’s approval, could the children go out to play. Sometimes, other kids in the neighborhood would even come over to help with the chores just to help speed things along.
Joan’s life as a stay at home mom and widow took a turn when Adam Verchinski came onto the scene. Adam casually knew Joan as several years back he had dated her sister, Yvonne for a brief period of time. When Adam would come by to take Yvonne out, Joan would always make him something to eat. If you take the old adage, “the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, you will understand how the love story between Joan and Adam developed. When Adam heard Joan was widowed, he drove by the house to offer his condolences. Adam continued to visit Joan on a regular basis to help her with anything around the house. After a short period of time, Adam had his heart set on asking Joan out on a date. On one particular visit, he drove by Joan’s house only to see a man mowing the lawn and initially figured he had missed his chance. As fate would have it, Adam turned the car around and went back only to find out that the man mowing the lawn wasn’t a suitor, but her oldest son, Ron. Adam began dating Joan and on their first date, went to a comedy club where they found the comedian’s jokes to be highly inappropriate. He and Joan got up to leave and would find themselves as the target of some of the comedian’s jokes as they were departing. After dating for approximately one year, Adam eventually asked Joan’s father for her hand in marriage. Shortly thereafter, Adam proposed to Joan in the driveway of the family house while sitting in a 1969 maroon Chevy Impala. As the story goes, Adam and Joan always joked that in fact Joan had proposed to Adam first, but that was not the case. They married on August 29, 1970 at the Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church in Jessup, PA and after a very long ceremony, the priest turned to the couple and said: “after that service, there is no doubt you are married!”. After the ceremony, the newlyweds went outside to see Adam’s new, gold Chevy Impala decorated with shoe polish on the exterior, cans tied to the back bumper and rice in the visors and ashtray. Always to be reminded of their special day, they would find rice in the car for years to come, scratches on the paint of the trunk and bumper from the cans and ghost images in the paint that would never come off from the shoe polish. They had a reception for 150 people at the Montdale Country Club in Montdale, PA that Adam proudly paid $800 for including a full five piece band and a completely catered meal. Adam and Joan celebrated their honeymoon at Cove Haven in the Poconos. Joan truly felt she had a great catch in Adam. He accepted and loved her four children as his own and moved to Wayne, NJ in 1971. Eventually their marriage was blessed with a son as well. They have enjoyed forty-five years of a loving and devoted marriage.
Joan will be remembered as a loving, giving and strong person who would only give her opinion when asked. She was a devoted mother and wife who instilled the core values of religion and family unity. She insisted that the family be home for dinner every night and celebrated Sunday afternoon meals together as a family tradition for many years. Joan also had a great love for reading. Joan was known to extended friends and family as someone they could always turn to and many called her “Mom”.
Joan was dedicated to her Catholic faith and had an unwavering belief in the angels and Saint Christopher and Saint Therese. She was a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Wayne. She sang in the church choir for many years and volunteered in the school’s kitchen while her kids were attending the church’s school.
Joan was the loving wife of Adam L. Verchinski; devoted mother of Ron Potash and his wife Lynn of Diamond Point, NY, Jim Potash and his wife Wynne of Columbia, SC, Cathy Potash of Hamilton, NJ, Janet Gmyrek and her husband David of Middlefield, CT and Adam C. Verchinski and his wife Cheryl of Cedar Knolls, NJ. She was the cherished grandmother of Heather, Keith, Sara, Anna, Caroline, Alex, Cecilia, Adam James, and great grandson, Brandyn.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, 7168 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 20146, www.blindness.org.
If you would like to send a private condolence directly to the family use this condolence section.
Friends may visit with the family from 3-5 and 7-9 PM on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 9:30 AM from the funeral home on Thursday, June 16, 2016 and then to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 580 Ratzer Road., Wayne where a 10:30 AM funeral mass will be offered. The interment service will be held at a later date.
Services
Friends may visit with the family from 3-5 and 7-9 PM on Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at the Vander May Wayne Colonial Funeral Home, 567 Ratzer Road, Wayne.
Funeral services will be held 9:30 AM from the funeral home on Thursday, June 16, 2016 and then to Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 580 Ratzer Road., Wayne where a 10:30 AM funeral mass will be offered. The interment service will be held at a later date.
Joan Verchinski, age 84, of Wayne passed Saturday, June 11, 2016. She was born in Olyphant, PA and graduated from the Scott High School in Olyphant with the Class of 1949. After high school, she worked at the Daystrom Company in Archbald, PA. Joan met her first husband, Myron Potash, while she was picketing out in front of Daystrom. One of Myron’s friends told him there was a cute girl working there so he drove by the picket line to take a look. They eventually married in July of 1952 and were gifted with four children. After just fifteen years of marriage, Myron passed away from complications he developed after surgery. Joan found herself as a widow but was determined to stay at home to raise and provide for her children. As a result, Joan became extremely organized, thrifty, and was renowned for giving her children specific chores before they could go out to play. Under Joan’s house rules, there were no chores that were specific to a boy or a girl, rather every child was expected to participate in mopping, sweeping, doing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, etc… Only after every chore was completed and received Joan’s approval, could the children go out to play. Sometimes, other kids in the neighborhood would even come over to help with the chores just to help speed things along.
Joan’s life as a stay at home mom and widow took a turn when Adam Verchinski came onto the scene. Adam casually knew Joan as several years back he had dated her sister, Yvonne for a brief period of time. When Adam would come by to take Yvonne out, Joan would always make him something to eat. If you take the old adage, “the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”, you will understand how the love story between Joan and Adam developed. When Adam heard Joan was widowed, he drove by the house to offer his condolences. Adam continued to visit Joan on a regular basis to help her with anything around the house. After a short period of time, Adam had his heart set on asking Joan out on a date. On one particular visit, he drove by Joan’s house only to see a man mowing the lawn and initially figured he had missed his chance. As fate would have it, Adam turned the car around and went back only to find out that the man mowing the lawn wasn’t a suitor, but her oldest son, Ron. Adam began dating Joan and on their first date, went to a comedy club where they found the comedian’s jokes to be highly inappropriate. He and Joan got up to leave and would find themselves as the target of some of the comedian’s jokes as they were departing. After dating for approximately one year, Adam eventually asked Joan’s father for her hand in marriage. Shortly thereafter, Adam proposed to Joan in the driveway of the family house while sitting in a 1969 maroon Chevy Impala. As the story goes, Adam and Joan always joked that in fact Joan had proposed to Adam first, but that was not the case. They married on August 29, 1970 at the Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic Church in Jessup, PA and after a very long ceremony, the priest turned to the couple and said: “after that service, there is no doubt you are married!”. After the ceremony, the newlyweds went outside to see Adam’s new, gold Chevy Impala decorated with shoe polish on the exterior, cans tied to the back bumper and rice in the visors and ashtray. Always to be reminded of their special day, they would find rice in the car for years to come, scratches on the paint of the trunk and bumper from the cans and ghost images in the paint that would never come off from the shoe polish. They had a reception for 150 people at the Montdale Country Club in Montdale, PA that Adam proudly paid $800 for including a full five piece band and a completely catered meal. Adam and Joan celebrated their honeymoon at Cove Haven in the Poconos. Joan truly felt she had a great catch in Adam. He accepted and loved her four children as his own and moved to Wayne, NJ in 1971. Eventually their marriage was blessed with a son as well. They have enjoyed forty-five years of a loving and devoted marriage.
Joan will be remembered as a loving, giving and strong person who would only give her opinion when asked. She was a devoted mother and wife who instilled the core values of religion and family unity. She insisted that the family be home for dinner every night and celebrated Sunday afternoon meals together as a family tradition for many years. Joan also had a great love for reading. Joan was known to extended friends and family as someone they could always turn to and many called her “Mom”.
Joan was dedicated to her Catholic faith and had an unwavering belief in the angels and Saint Christopher and Saint Therese. She was a parishioner of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Wayne. She sang in the church choir for many years and volunteered in the school’s kitchen while her kids were attending the church’s school.
Joan was the loving wife of Adam L. Verchinski; devoted mother of Ron Potash and his wife Lynn of Diamond Point, NY, Jim Potash and his wife Wynne of Columbia, SC, Cathy Potash of Hamilton, NJ, Janet Gmyrek and her husband David of Middlefield, CT and Adam C. Verchinski and his wife Cheryl of Cedar Knolls, NJ. She was the cherished grandmother of Heather, Keith, Sara, Anna, Caroline, Alex, Cecilia, Adam James, and great grandson, Brandyn.
In lieu of flowers memorial donations to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, 7168 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 20146, www.blindness.org.
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