Joann (Bradley) Abercrombie

Rita Joann Bradley Abercrombie went home to be with her Lord and Savior on September 23, 2023 at the age of 91.

Joann’s life was characterized by her cheerful personality, her gift of hospitality, and her steadfast Christian faith. Her genuine care for people, along with a strong desire to help point them to Jesus, resulted in a lasting impact on those who knew her.  She was an active leader in whatever local Baptist church she and her husband Abbie were involved, teaching children’s Sunday school and Vacation Bible school when their children were younger.  When the family moved to Clifton, she taught—and later, directed alongside Abbie—the First Baptist Church Young Adult Bible study class for 40 years.

Joann was a stay at home mom and housewife for most of her life but demonstrated a sharp business mind later in life when she opened the Blueberry House, a retail boutique, and subsequently secured her real estate brokers license, opening Blueberry Realty alongside Abbie. Most of all, though, she was a faithful wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother and friend, and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Joann was born in Dublin, Texas on October 17, 1931, to George Victor Bradley and Hazel Lee Hennessee Bradley.  She was the oldest of three children but was an only child until 1947 when her first sibling, a sister, was born followed by her brother in 1951.  She and her parents moved to south Texas in her younger years but returned to Dublin where she graduated from Dublin High School in 1948.  She continued her education at Tarleton State University and University of Houston where she graduated with a degree in Education.

Joann met Abbie through a mutual friend in Eagle Lake, Texas, and they married on July 3, 1953. Abbie served in the Air Force as a pilot which took them to several cities primarily in south Texas.  Abbie then went into residential construction which moved them, with their three children, to Houston, Laredo, Lubbock and back to Houston.  They intentionally chose the next move to Clifton so that they could spend precious time with her parents, siblings, grandparents and extended family, all who lived in Meridian.

Throughout her life, Joann enjoyed the lasting friendships that she and Abbie developed during their early years of marriage, especially in the Houston area while attending Willow Meadows Baptist Church and Tallowood Baptist Church. These friends combined to form a network of support for each other through the years.  When the family moved to Clifton in 1972, Joann and Abbie were blessed to add many other faithful and true friends, from their church as well as within the community.

Joann was preceded in death by her parents, Victor and Hazel Bradley, husband Eckhardt Fowler “Abbie” Abercrombie, Jr., son Jon Mark Abercrombie, and sister Victoria Bradley Wirz. She is survived by daughters Amy (& Lloyd) Wiede and Lisa (& Bob) Beach, brother Jerry (& Margie) Bradley, brother in law Ron Wirz, her aunt Patsy Fisher, grandchildren Matt (& Kayla) Wiede, Shannon (& Kevin) MacDonald, Grant (& Aubree) Wiede, Robert (& Sarah) Beach, Taylor (& Tori) Beach, and Katherine Beach, as well as her fifteen (soon to be sixteen) great-grandchildren, numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

We give glory to God for the gift of family and friends who have come alongside of us as we have walked this journey, including the staff and members of First Baptist Church, Clifton, Clifton Lutheran Ministries, Clifton Funeral Home, and many members of the community who have been an integral part of our mom’s care.

A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 29th, at 2:00 p.m. at First Baptist Church, Clifton.  Memorials may be made to FBC, Clifton, or to Clifton Lutheran Ministries.

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.  Psalm 27:4