Joanne Piper

PIPER, Joanne Martha – age 70, of Grand Blanc, passed away peacefully at home on November 6, 2020.  A memorial service will be held at a future date.  Joanne was born in New York City, the daughter of Robert and Eleanor (Baker) Hartranft.  Mrs. Piper was a proud and loyal graduate of George Williams College and the University of Michigan and worked for the YMCA in a variety of roles.  She spent most of her career with the City of Flint, rising to Director of the Mayor’s Office on Aging and Handicapped.  Her retirement notice in the Flint Journal referred to her as “the sweetheart of City Hall.”  Community service was always important to Joanne.  Her fund raising work for Flint’s Music in the Parks was especially close to her heart and she was one of the first two women to be inducted into the Flint Kiwanis.  She enjoyed 28 years of marriage to the love of her life, the late Lawrence Piper.  She is survived by brothers Robert (Marty) Hartranft, John (Jan) Hartranft and Bruce (Lisa) Hartranft and her sister Elisabeth Baker; nieces Carrie Wager, Joanna Gatziolis, Ava Chatterson, Megan Hartranft, and Kathleen Shields; nephews Scott Hartranft, Loren Brockway, Thomas Brockway, and Brett Hartranft; great-nieces Guinevere Wager, Cecilia Wager, Casey Brockway, and Cora Gatziolis; great-nephews Bennet Shields and Ronan Shields.  She was preceded in death by Lawrence Piper.  Tributes may be made to the Kiwanis Club of Flint, the McFarlan Home of Flint and the First Presbyterian Church of Flint.  Tributes may be shared at www.sharpfuneralhomes.com