Joan Massaquoi Obituary

Massaquoi, Joan Elizabeth (nee DeBerry) Joan was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Frederick Douglass DeBerry and Nona DeBerry (nee Whitfield) on September 11, 1930. She attended and graduated from Sumner High School in St. Louis and the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, where she earned a BS degree in Clinical Psychology. In 1954, Joan earned a Master's Degree in Psychiatric Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. While at Washington University, she met Hans J Massaquoi, a journalism student at the University of Illinois, who later became the Managing Editor of Ebony Magazine and author of the international bestseller, Destined to Witness, about his life as a black man growing up in Nazi Germany. Joan and Hans married in 1956 and raised their two sons, Steve G. Massaquoi and Hans Jr. in Chicago. Joan was a longtime resident of Hyde Park and her sons attended the Lab School and U-High. Over a period of 50 years, while living in Chicago, Joan pursued a career dedicated to improving the quality of other people's lives. She worked at the Jewish Family and Child Services as a psychiatric social worker; she served as the Dean of Admissions at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration ("SSA"); she served as the Asst. Dean of Students at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle Campus' Institute for Juvenile Research; and she served as the Director of Family Mediation Services for the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago. Joan also served as an adjunct professor of social work at Loyola and Chicago State Universities, and she maintained a thriving private practice as a marriage and family counselor and psychiatric social worker. Joan was also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and was active in many other organizations, including the Chicago Urban League and the South Side Art Center. After retiring in 1993 from the Circuit Court of Cook County, Joan maintained her private practice as a marriage and family counselor and she served regularly as a retained expert witness and advisor to several Cook County Circuit Court judges regarding child custody issues. In 2002, Joan retired altogether and relocated to Bradenton, Florida. In 2013, she returned to the Midwest where she lived in Huntington Woods, Michigan with Hans Jr. and his family. In 2014, son Steve and his wife Jing presented 'grandma' Joan Elizabeth with Jennifer Elizabeth, a granddaughter, who became the light of Joan's fading years. Joan was the consummate "mom" and "big sister" to many, always with a listening ear, endless sincere advice and loving care. She departed this life on February 13, 2016 in Farmington Hills, Michigan. She will be cherished and deeply missed by many friends and former colleagues, but most of all by her two adoring sons. A memorial celebrating Joan's life will be held on Saturday, June 18th at 1:00 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church in Hyde Park, 5650 S. Woodlawn.