Obituaries

Therese ‘Terry’ Pounds (Joiner): 1927-2024

Therese “Terry” Pounds (Joiner), 97, of Montclair, NJ died peacefully surrounded by family at Mountainside Hospital on Wednesday, September 11, 2024. Beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend, Terry was born a ‘survivor,’ having lost her mother who died soon after her birth in 1927 in New York City. She subsequently lived all over the world as a self-described “army brat” after her father, Colonel Talley Dosier Joiner, remarried and reclaimed “his little Therese” from her aunts who raised her until she was six. After graduating from Columbia High School in Maplewood, NJ, Terry briefly attended college at Trinity, DC, then decided to go to Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School in NJ. The skills she learned there served her well at her first secretarial jobs in Manhattan, then later at Montclair Kimberly Academy in Montclair where she worked for almost twenty years in the Office of External Affairs. She was proud of her mastery of the rules of English grammar, and many relied on her to proofread their letters. After the death of her husband in 1978, Terry set up a Montclair chapter of THEOS, a nationwide non-denominational support group for widowed men and women. She ran the group for approximately ten years and created friendships from that work that lasted until her death. She was also involved with the Friends of Barnet and the Montclair Fine Arts Festival.

Terry was predeceased in death by her husband, Donald Pounds, her son Richard, her beloved companions, Arthur Jones and Fred Berinato, and her sisters Lucy and Claire. She is survived by her son Donald Pounds and his companion Patrice Holtzer, daughter Mary Pounds Sisler, daughter-in-law Bette Pounds, sons James Pounds (Bethany) and Thomas Pounds (Liljana), daughter Virginia Pounds, sons Michael Pounds (Catherine) and John Pounds. She was the proud grandmother of sixteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren: Katy, Austin, Colleen, Connor, Jordan, Jason, Jeremy, Natalie, Anika, Evan, Noah, Ben, Eli, Max, Harper and Nolan; Scarlett, Emma, Carson, Peyton and Wesley. She is also survived by a large extended family and countless friends.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, November 9 at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 30 N. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, NJ 07042, followed by interment of ashes at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in Upper Montclair.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Terry’s name to The Release Recovery Foundation at: https://donate.hakuapp.com/donations/new?fundraising_effort=in-loving-memory-of-therese-terry-pounds.

Kenneth D. Levin

07/19/1944 - 10/06/2024

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Obituary For Kenneth D. Levin

Kenneth Levin, age 80, who passed away in Sylvania on October 6, 2024, thought that while we may never really know the meaning of human existence, or understand the vast universe of which we are all a tiny part, did believe that the almost insignificant roll each individual plays in the grand cosmic process should not excuse a failure to help others or to make one's community a little better place.

His life-long interest in the history and development of human societies led to serious academic study in East Asia during the difficult years of America's Vietnam War, and to a groundbreaking 1971 visit with a group of fellow graduate students to the People's Republic of China during the turmoil of that country's disruptive "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution." That pioneering visit, and meetings with dozens of important officials (including Chinese Premier Chou En-lai), followed by a nationwide speaking tour, helped to introduce Americans to the Chinese people, bring down hostility, calm the atmosphere, and pave the way for a visit to China by U.S. President Richard Nixon the following year-setting a tone for better relations while warning about coming serious economic competition-which is better, however, than extending the confrontations of the Cold War, with ongoing mutual military threats of nuclear annihilation-as China developed into a great world power.

After teaching for a while at Antioch College in Ohio, Ken returned to Toledo and began a 30+ year 2nd business career in commercial/industrial real estate appraising, management and development. During those years, his passionate interest in history continued with research and study into the local area, acquisition of a huge archive of historical picture postcards of Toledo and northwest Ohio, followed by many popular talks and a major pictorial book titled "You Will Do Better in Toledo", illustrating the rise and development of Toledo into an important industrial city (glass and automobiles) during the first half of the 20th century.

There will be no visitation or formal service, and interment in the family plot at Historic Woodlawn Cemetery will be private.

Ken's hopeful wish for everyone was: "Be kind to one another and don't miss an opportunity to help someone less fortunate".

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