T
he late Joan Chermack
Brown '74 was a woman
ahead of her time.
She graduated from Gwynedd Mercy
University with a bachelor’s degree in
math and entered the workforce as a
computer systems analyst for the United
States Navy; she and a female colleague
were just two women among more than
100 men.
Joan married Dave Brown, a Naval pilot,
and made another atypical move.
“At the time, Navy wives working was
not the norm,” said Dave of his late
wife. “She also decided she wanted
to hyphenate her last name to make it
Chermack-Brown. We went to a lawyer
at the Naval base who wouldn’t do it,
so Joan had her middle name legally
changed to Chermack.”
Joan and Dave both went back to school
in 1985 to earn master’s degrees in
computer science. Joan spent about
15 years working for Shared Medical
Systems (now Siemens Medical
Solutions) as a senior analyst/senior
programmer analyst. She also pursued
advanced technical certifications and
took on various volunteer roles, ncluding
several for her alma mater, GMercyU.
In 2008, she joined GMercyU’s Alumni Futures Bylaws Sub-Committee and served
on the Alumni Association Board. In 2010, she joined the Planned Giving Advisory
Council and helped promote GMercyU’s Mother Mary Bernard Graham Society, which
recognizes estate gifts. She also joined an Alumni Board Governance Committee and
the Service/Outreach Committee, which supports spring break service trips.
With her husband, Joan also created something powerful and positive for future
female professionals –the Joan Chermack Brown Scholarship Fund at GMercyU.
The memorial fund will be awarded annually to full-time female students with a
demonstrated financial need.
“It was her way of paying it forward,” Dave explained. “She was the oldest of four
girls and came from a background without much means to attend college, but her life
goal was to attend; she wanted a career. During her senior year in high school (Bishop
Kenrick of Norristown, Pa.) she was vying for salutatorian with other students. A nun
asked her where she planned to go to college, but she hadn’t worked it out yet. The
nun eventually came back to her and said, ‘I’ve got you a work/study scholarship at
Gwynedd-Mercy College.’”
Joan passed away on August 1, 2011 of a rare form of ovarian cancer known as
Carcinosarcoma. She was only 58 years old. Joan and Dave had loved to spend their
free time walking and hiking, and after she passed, Dave embarked on a cross-country
walk to honor the love of his life and raise awareness for ovarian cancer.
He started in February 2013 in Atlantic City and planned to walk to San Francisco,
following U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 50. He walked for a remarkable 89 days,
making it all the way to Kansas. “By then, I was wearing out,” he said.
Dave’s efforts on behalf of ovarian cancer awareness and the couple’s support of
GMercyU keep Joan’s memory very much alive.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
11