Obituary

JoAnn Carol Ridgeway Barwick, aged 94, a cherished mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and friend passed away unexpectedly but peacefully on December 13, 2024 at Indian River Estates in Vero Beach.

Born on July 10, 1930 in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, JoAnn's life was one of exceptional creativity, energy, inspiration and love. Born to the late Russell Ridgeway and Cora Quenemoen, JoAnn had always recognized and was grateful to be born to parents and into a family that truly loved, nurtured and took care of each other. JoAnn was very close to her sister and brother, Wanda Leopold, who pre-deceased her, and her brother, Lee Ridgeway.

From a solid mid-western background, JoAnn spread her wings in New York City and became a home furnishings and interior design icon in the publishing world. Starting off at Wagner College, she then landed a job at 22 years old as a secretary in a small public relations firm whose clients were interior designers and home furnishings companies. Here she managed to catch the eye of Lillian Weiss, Vice President in charge of designers, who became her mentor and helped launch JoAnn into the world of designing and setting up rooms for photography.

At the suggestion and encouragement of Lillian Weiss, JoAnn applied for and received an NHFL Scholarship to Parsons School of Design which marked a turning point in her career. Between the design skills and writing courses at Columbia University JoAnn got her first magazine job at American Home as the Assistant Decorating Editor.

American Home magazine led JoAnn to another important mentor in her life, John Mack Carter, a revered editor of home magazines. JoAnn went on to Modern Bride Magazine, where she was the Decorating and Tableware Editor. A big move upwards came when John Mack Carter asked JoAnn to become the Decorating and Building Editor at Good Housekeeping Magazine.

Meanwhile, on the personal front, JoAnn was busy falling in love with the late Jack Barwick, getting married, setting up house in an apartment in Manhattan, with weekends at Jack's family home in Southampton, NY. Shortly thereafter their two children came along, John and Alison Barwick. They made their home first in Manhattan, and then in Tuxedo Park, New York, and later on in Westport, CT.

Juggling a family life with two young children, and a commute to Manhattan every day, plus frequent travel for photo shoots, JoAnn continued her upward trajectory in her career convincing John Mack Carter and Hearst publishing to support her in creating a concept for a new magazine: Country Living. JoAnn was the founding Editor; the first issue was published in 1978 and her ski house on Stratton Mountain in Vermont was the centerpiece for the first issue. It was one of JoAnn's core beliefs that there should always be a wonderful place for the family to reunite and spend time together; the Stratton "Sugarhouse" designed and furnished by JoAnn became that place. Country Living continues to this day to be a wildly successful magazine.

It wasn't long before Hearst recognized a true talent and called on JoAnn to move to their major magazine, House Beautiful. JoAnn became editor-in-chief in 1978 and stayed for 13 years. During that time JoAnn was recognized and acknowledged as a pioneer in the development of American and International country style.

It was at this special house on Stratton Mountain that JoAnn married the second love of her life, the late Fred Berger, in 1980; an advertising executive who came with four children of his own from a previous marriage. He was the Executive Vice President of Hill & Knowlton (at that time the largest public relations firm in the world); they were truly a New York City power couple. With her high-profile job, and his (think of personally handling accounts like the country of Mexico) they were doing major entertaining for business and living a lifestyle to match. At one point their home was a three-story brownstone with an enormous tree growing through the open-air center of the whole thing.

JoAnn is the author of two books published by House Beautiful. Following her life-long interest in her Norwegian heritage, design from that part of the world and in all things Scandinavian, JoAnn traveled extensively throughout Sweden, Norway and Denmark. She met with designers, looked at Scandinavian houses and architecture and was heavily influenced when eventually becoming a furniture designer, and creating fabulous lines of furniture. In 1991 her book Scandinavian Country was published by Clarkson Potter.

From 1991 through 1994 JoAnn was design consultant and media spokesperson for the Masco Home Furnishings Group, whose companies include Henredon, Drexel Heritage and Lexington.

Starting in 1994 JoAnn worked as an executive design consultant for Lexington Furniture Industries and established herself as an expert in providing design ideas for new collections based on her knowledge and experience of consumer trends and style direction. Her collections, "Weekend Retreat" and "Seaside Retreat" were featured in stores around the country and there are many "copycat" designs still gracing the best furniture stores today. These lines were amongst the most successful in the past few decades.

A four-time winner of the Dorothy Dawe Award for outstanding home furnishings work, JoAnn has received other major industry awards including the International Furnishings and Design Association's National Honorary Recognition Award, the Southern Furniture Market Exposition Writer's Hall of Fame Award, the Dallas Market Center Award, and the Burlington House Award.

JoAnn has served as the executive vice president of the National Home Fashions League and as press associate member of the American Society of Interior Decorators.

In 1993, after many years of having houses in Manhattan, New Preston, CT and Stowe, VT, JoAnn and Fred settled in Boca Grande, on the west coast of Florida, when JoAnn retired from the magazine business. Unable to ever sit still, JoAnn continued to design for various furniture companies and for the very many local people and friends who knew of her talents.

It was around this time that JoAnn took up painting in oils with exceptional results. Several beautiful pieces of her artwork are displayed throughout her home. She took classes in the Art Center in Boca Grande for several years.

She leaves behind many dear friends in Boca Grande and many happy memories of island life there.

A few years after her husband Fred passed away, JoAnn sold her big, beautiful island retreat and made her new home at Indian River Estates in Vero Beach, Florida in 2019. Ready for another adventure, she didn't waste any time and met the third love of her life within the first week of arrival! Most people are lucky to find love even once, but JoAnn was lucky in love and found a wonderful man to share her life with, again! In her final years, JoAnn found love and companionship with Galen Brosius, with whom she shared a home and five wonderful years at Indian River Estates in Vero Beach, where they resided.

Survived by so many who loved her, her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and close friends, she leaves behind a legacy of love, laughter, and a blueprint for living life to the fullest. She will continue to inspire all those who knew her.

JoAnn is survived by her brother Lee Ridgeway, her two children, John and Alison Barwick, the wonderful man she lived with, Galen Brosius, her grandchildren, Robin Forster, Laurel Wolters, John Wolters, her great-grandchildren Abagail Clara Forster, Jackson Forster, Holly Ray Kuykendall, Emmett Chase Kuykendall, her stepchildren, David Berger, Steven Berger, Leslie Hansen, Lisa Berger, and grandchildren Nicolas Berger, Jenna Berger,and her nieces and nephews who were dear to her heart.

A memorial service to honor and celebrate JoAnn's life will be held on Sunday, January 12th at 1:00 in the chapel at Indian River Estates,(Parking Lot 8) Building G, 7740 Indian Oaks Drive, Vero Beach, Florida 32966. Reception to follow in the same building.

Another memorial service will be held in Waterbury, Vermont at the Congregational Church, 8 N. Main Street, on Sunday, May 18th at 1pm for all of her friends and relatives who will not be able to make it down to Florida. Reception immediately following the service.

May she rest in peace.