Paoli native Joan Connor Toenniessen — a writer, columnist, and editor who covered local events for more than 40 years, some of which were spent at the Daily Local News — has died at 86, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer. 

Toenniessen graduated from Tredyffrin/Easttown High School (now Conestoga High School) in 1953. She went on to graduate from Syracuse University in 1957, majoring in American studies and journalism. 

She started writing for the Daily Local News in the 1960s, covering local events, writing popular columns, and editing articles. 

“My mother was the hardest-working person I knew,” her son said. “She worked full time as I was growing up, would come home and make dinner, go back to work at the newspaper, and come home after midnight. She would sleep a few hours and get up to get us off to school and then go back to work. I still don’t know how she lived on four hours of sleep a night.”

Toenniessen was a lifelong social activist. She was also a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Ardmore, and she became its first female president in 1998. She won an award for outstanding service from Rotary International in 2006 and was still active with the chapter as a writer and editor when she died. 

She and her husband, Lowell, were married for more than 65 years. 

Read more about Joan Connor Toenniessen in The Philadelphia Inquirer.