Joan Barra

Joan Trinkl Barra, age 56, of Chambersburg, died on Saturday, November 5, 2011 in the Chambersburg Hospital, following a courageous 5-year battle with breast cancer. Born on April 7, 1955 in Ithaca, NY, she was a daughter of Frank and Elizabeth (Wickins) Trinkl of Ithaca.

Joan was a Syracuse University alumna, where she earned her bachelor's and MBA degrees, and where she met her husband, Tom. A devoted wife and mother, her constant focus and greatest concern was loving and caring for her family. She was a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church and a past board member of the Chambersburg Ballet Theatre Company and Boy Scout Troop 128. She also served as an active board member of the Cumberland Valley Breast Care Alliance.

Aside from her parents, she is survived by her husband, Dr. Thomas J. Barra; their four children, James M. and wife Regina C. Barra of Philadelphia, Joseph G. Barra and Julia A. Barra, both at home in Chambersburg; two grandsons (sons of James and Regina), Frank Thomas Barra and Thomas Stephen Barra; two sisters, Alison Teeter of Fairport, NY and Connie Matthys of Central City, NY. She was preceded in death by her son, Frank Thomas Barra on May 7, 2002.

Services will be held at 11 AM on Wednesday, November 9, 2011 in St. Paul United Methodist Church, 750 Norland Ave., Chambersburg, with Rev. Rick Noll officiating. Interment will be private. The family will receive friends from 6-8 PM on Monday and 6-8 PM on Tuesday in the Thomas L. Geisel Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 333 Falling Spring Road, Chambersburg. There will be no visitation prior to the service in the church on Wednesday. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Cumberland Valley Breast Care Alliance, 344 Leedy Way, Chambersburg, PA 17202.