Mary Wachtman

Mary Joan Wachtman, 88, died on Friday, February 25, 2022, peacefully listening to music by her favorite jazz musicians with family at Autumn Lake Healthcare at Ballenger Creek in Frederick, MD. She lived in Lucketts outside of Leesburg, Virginia for the past 18 years.

Born on October 2, 1933, in Butler, PA, she was the daughter of Wilbur Cousins and Mary (Holben) Cousins, and the granddaughter of a Methodist minister. Wilbur was the manager of an A&P grocery in the depths of the Great Depression but died in a tragic boating accident when Joan was just four years old. The widowed Mary Cousins was blessed with sisters who helped her raise Joan and her sister Eloise, including spending summers at the family’s humble cottage in Chicora, along the Allegheny River.

Joan graduated from Butler High School and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh’s Interior Design Program. While working as an interior designer and display artist in Lancaster, PA, she met and married Joseph Wachtman, Jr., then farm editor of the Intelligencer Journal newspaper.

The couple lived in Glen Arm and Baltimore, MD and Harrisburg, PA, and then raised their children in Columbia, Maryland. Joan was a working mom who actively supported her daughters’ swim and softball teams, Pony Club, and church youth groups. She was a beloved “second mom” to extended family and friends.

Joan based her design practice at Grand Rapids Furniture, Custom Furnishings and then later started M. Joan Wachtman, Incorporated. In the 1990s, she owned and operated Panache, a home design and furnishing shop with antiques and local artisan wares located in Market Station in Leesburg, VA and then in Everedy Square & Shab Row in Frederick, MD.

In her retirement, she enjoyed spending time with her granddaughters, swimming, sunning, reading, making jewelry, and listening to her extensive jazz collection.

She is survived by daughter Jan Hyland, son-in-law Tim Hyland, and granddaughter Brett “Bee” Hyland, as well as granddaughter Jamie Lee (Delawder) Shaffer and her husband C.J. Shaffer. Joan lost her eldest daughter Lise Sue Delawder to illness in November 2021.

**Please note due to potentially dangerous weather, the gathering to remember Joan has been postponed until Sunday, March 13, 2022 from 2:00pm-5:00pm

The family welcomes friends to the home of Jan and Tim Hyland, 13434 Wilt Store Road, Leesburg, VA 20176 on Sunday, March 13 from 2:00 until 5:00 p.m. for an informal celebration in memory of Joan.  * The Hyland's home is in the woods on a gravel road, and parking is only available on gravel, mulch or grass.

Private interment will be later in the Spring at Oakland United Methodist Church in Sykesville, MD.

Memorial donations may be made to the Lucketts Volunteer Fire Department, 42367 Lucketts Rd. Leesburg, VA 20176 or World Kitchen Central, https://wck.org/

Expressions of sympathy may be offered to the family at StaufferFuneralHome.com.