Obituary of Joan B Schaum

Joan B Schaum, known to her friends and family as "Betty", of Deptford, New Jersey, passed away peacefully on Friday, March 18, 2022, at home surrounded by her beloved family. She was 88 years young.

LEGACY

Betty grew up in the Cramer Hill section of Camden, New Jersey and graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School with the Class of 1951. In 1958, she met a young man named Robert “Bob” Schaum on Valentine's Day at a dance at the former Al-Jo restaurant in Mt. Ephraim. He cut in on his friend to dance with her and in Mom’s words, “I looked into those baby blue eyes, and I knew he was the one.” They were married 7 months later in September. Betty and Bob share a deep love for each other that is rare and a great gift. Their love story was and is beautiful and strong, spanning almost 64 years of marriage, three daughters, seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

Betty was a trail blazer and woman well ahead of her time. Both in how she raised her girls “to be anything they wanted to be” as well as in her own life and career. For more than 30 years she worked in real estate, first as a salesperson and then as a Real Estate Broker. She opened her own office, Schaum Real Estate, in Deptford. When she decided to close her office she continued to work as a Mortgage Underwriter before her retirement.

Betty will be remembered as a strong, incredibly loving, and generous woman whose love for her family knew no bounds. Her greatest passion and her greatest pleasure was her family. Her children, grand- and great grandchildren were her heart. She loved to hear what was going on in their lives and made sure she spent time each week talking and connecting with each one. Many of the family’s greatest and most cherished memories were celebrating the Holidays at her home. Her house was beautifully decorated inside and out for each holiday and there were always special surprises and treats for her Grands. Bringing her family together was her greatest joy.

She enjoyed dancing, reading and creating memories at Brown’s Mills and along the Jersey Shore with her family in LBI, North Wildwood and Oceanview Campground where countless summers were spent vacationing.

Betty will be dearly missed but will be celebrated for a life well lived by those who knew and loved this special woman.

FAMILY

Betty is the beloved Wife of 63 years to Robert C. Schaum; loving mother of Laurie Beppel and her husband Brian, Diana Blood and her husband Ed and Karen Cooper and her husband Dan; cherished grandmother of Heather Tolomeo and her husband Pat, Alyssa Gagliardi and her husband Chris, Ashley Beppel and her fiancé Ben Elliott, Brian Beppel, Jenna Salamone, Matthew Blood, and Joshua Cooper. She was great grandmother to Anna and Ava Gagliardi; beloved sister of Doris LaRue, pre-deceased by her sisters Ella Mae Phipps, Evelyn Costello, Mary Hoffman. Betty is also survived by loving family and friends.

SHARE LIFE CELEBRATION

Relatives and friends are invited to attend Betty's viewing at 10am on Monday, March 28, 2022, in the Infant Jesus Parish, St. Margaret's R. C. Church, 334 Beech Avenue, in Woodbury Heights, NJ. The Funeral Mass will follow at 11am. Interment at Woodbury Memorial Park, West Deptford.

In lieu of flowers, Betty's family requests memorial contributions made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by visiting www.stjude.org or to M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper Hospital, Camden, NJ by visiting support.foundation.cooperhealth.org.

Arrangements are under the direction of the McGUINNESS FUNERAL HOME, Woodbury & Washington Twp.