Hoboken-based preservationist Joan Abel passes away

HOBOKEN — Joan Abel of Monroe Street in Hoboken passed away Tuesday, May 26 surrounded by family at her winter home in West Palm Beach, Fla. She was an architect who chaired Hoboken’s Historic Preservation Commission and had worked to restore the public library.
She was born July 11, 1943 at Margaret Hague Maternity Ward in Jersey City to John Robert Abel and Cecilia Estelle Abel. She grew up in Nutley and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture in 1981 from Pratt Institute. She later studied architecture under Glenn Murcutt at his International Master Class in Sydney, Australia. In 2002 she received her Masters in Environmental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
An art lover and collector, Joan moved to Hoboken in 1980. She practiced architecture at Applied Housing and Lindemon Winkelman Architects; and worked as a planner for Columbia Presbyterian, and as an archivist for Liberty State Park. While living in Annapolis, Maryland she served on its Historic Preservation Commission, and contributed extensively to the restoration of the Charles Carroll House.
Her concern for the built environment caused her in 2010 to create and actively promote a plan to alleviate flooding in Hoboken. Parts of that plan are reflected in Rebuild by Design, a study done in response to the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy.
Joan was a bicyclist throughout her adult life and as her health declined could often be seen about town on her electric scooter.
She died as a result of a chronic lung condition compounded by lung cancer.
She was married to Hoboken activist Jim Vance.
A celebration of her life will be held at her home Saturday, June 6 beginning at noon. If so inclined, those wishing to donate may make a donation to Pratt Institute at giving.pratt.edu or send a check to the Institute at 200 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205. Designate your donation specifically to “Fund for Pratt – Architecture” in memory of Joan Abel.
Survived by her second husband, James Davis Vance of Hoboken, two children from her first marriage, Denise Joan Fahmie of Boston, Massachusetts, and Steven Michael Fahmie of Brooklyn, New York, and two sisters, Judith Ann Abel and Joyce Ruth Abel. She was preceded in death by her parents, her firstborn, Thomas Carl Fahmie Jr. and her brother John Robert Abel Jr.