Family

Joan Rhodes Hankey was born at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Pittsburgh.

Her paternal grandfather had been a pharmacist and was active in banking and other business interests. Her father was a graduate of Westminster College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He practiced law for over 60 years in New Kensington.

Joan’s maternal grandfather was a salesman for the Joseph Horne Co., a major department store in Pittsburgh. Her mother went to an all-girls private school near Pittsburgh. She was a trained operatic soprano and continued to sing while Joan was growing up.

Her dad’s cousin was a Wilson graduate and Joan remembered her uncle playing the piano and singing, “For I have a daughter at Wilson, and the money she spends makes me ill. Each time she writes home she wants money. Or encloses an outrageous bill.” 

Her mother had two close friends who were also Wilson graduates and spoke fondly of the school. While in high school, Joan’s mom took her to tour a variety of colleges and universities in Pennsylvania including Wilson. Joan recalled thinking that Wilson was so friendly and nice as opposed to Bryn Mawr, which she thought was stuffy. Wilson was the only college to which she applied.