Joan Daley Graves

It is with heavy hearts that we share that our mother, Joan Daley Graves, passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning, January 21st. Joan was born on October 1st, 1931, to William and Marie Daley. She was the oldest of their three daughters. Her sisters are Sandra Daley Dorsey and the late Donna Daley Wilson.

Joan was a woman of quiet strength and deep devotion to her family. As the eldest, she learned early the importance of responsibility, compassion, and perseverance—qualities that stayed with her throughout her life. She carried herself with grace, faced life’s challenges head-on, and never wavered in her love for those she cared about.

Joan attended Merion Mercy Academy and later graduated from Rosemont College. She had a deep love for the performing arts and was the lead in several college plays, reflecting her confidence, creativity, and natural presence.

After graduating, Joan joined TWA as a flight attendant and moved to Kansas City, where she lived with a close-knit group of friends who became like family. She often spoke of those years in Kansas City as the happiest days of her life—full of independence, laughter, and lasting friendships.

She later returned to the Philadelphia area, where she married the late Lawrence F. Graves Jr.

She was the mother of five children: Larry Graves (deceased), Bill Graves, Terrence Graves, Leslie Graves Ryan (Jim), and Kenny Graves (Kristin). As anyone knows, being the mother of five children requires endless patience, courage, and dedication. Her life was not easy. She faced hardship, responsibility, and challenges that would have worn many people down, but she endured. She showed up. She kept going. Her life was not defined by comfort, but by resilience.

Joan later worked in events at Saint David’s Inn (The Radnor Hotel) before beginning a long and successful career in real estate, where she worked for over 30 years on the Main Line. Her dedication, work ethic, and genuine care for people earned her numerous awards as a top agent in sales, but more importantly, the trust and respect of her clients and colleagues.

She had a sharp wit and a sense of humor that never left her, even when life was at its hardest. She could make you laugh when you least expected it, and sometimes when you weren’t quite ready for it. She spoke her mind freely and honestly, whether her words were gentle or blunt, kind or tough. You always knew where you stood with her, and there was something deeply refreshing and real about that. She told the truth as she saw it.

She loved Ocean City, New Jersey, where she was raised on Morningside in the Gardens along with family and lifelong friends. She loved dear friends—the kind who show up, laugh together, and share life honestly. Above all, she loved her family: her children, her 11 grandchildren, and her 9 great-grandchildren. And the entire Daley clan, especially her cousin and best friend Sally Braithwaite—she loved all them fiercely.

She taught us all that life can be hard and still worth living fully; that laughter matters; that honesty matters. She will be remembered not just for the years she lived, but for the life she lived within those years. She leaves behind a family shaped by her strength and a legacy that will live on in stories, laughter, honesty, and resilience. We are better because she was ours.

Relatives & friends are invited to her Viewing Thursday morning, February 5th, 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM followed by her Funeral Mass at 10:00 AM ALL IN CHURCH at St. Thomas of Villanova Rosemont Chapel, 1229 E. Lancaster Ave, Rosemont PA. Interment Calvary Cemetery.

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