Obituaries
Joan Potter, 82, longtime Wilton resident, theater arts teacher

Mar 17, 2008

Joan Frances Potter, a longtime Wilton resident died Friday, March 14 after an extended illness. She was 82.

The daughter of Raymond Valentine and Loudie Weagle Potter, she was born in Milton, Nova Scotia and reared in Calgary, Alberta. At the age of 12, she and her younger brother were orphaned and sent to the United States to be cared for by extended family.

Her teenage years were spent in Duluth, Minn., with academic study following at Oberlin College and Northwestern University. Ms. Potter honed her skills as actor, director, and teacher at Northwestern, earning undergraduate and master’s degrees there.

She performed on stage and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s, but later focused primarily on teaching and directing at the college level, first at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, and for the remainder of her long career, at the Theatre Arts and Film Division, School of Fine Arts, SUNY, Purchase, N.Y. She was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year at that institution in 1999.

She is survived by her brother, Robert W. Potter, of Plymouth, Minn., and many relatives.

A celebration of her life will be held on Thursday, March 20 at 11 a.m. at the Magner Funeral Home, 12 Mott Avenue in Norwalk. A memorial service will begin at 1 p.m. Burial will take place in Deluth, Minn.

Donations may be made to The New School, Drama Dept., 686 West 12th St., New York, NY 10011

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