Reba “Joan” (Goodman) Phipps

KENNEBUNK – Reba “Joan” (Goodman) Phipps of Kennebunk, 92, traveled to her next adventure, June 18, 2025, in her loving daughter’s arms, and was laid to rest the next day in a green burial.

Joan may not have owned a credit card during her time here, but she lived the richest life.

Born Oct. 1, 1932, a devoted daughter and sister to two brothers, her family moved north in the summer and south in the winter, due to her father being a soil surveyer – and they called many places in Maine home.

A maverick at the start, she went to Antioch College at a young age for one year and then completed her degree at Penn State getting a BA in education. It didn’t take long though, before she decided to go for her dream of becoming an actor. Along the way, in 1955, she had a brief marriage to Ray Malone, a man she loved (but at a time when a gay man could not live his life authentically) and they did not stay together.

She stuck with acting though, and while performing in New York City, she met the dashing Nicholas Phipps, from England, who was working for Lord Beaverbrook of the London Times. Shortly after the birth of their first child, Daniel John Phipps, Nicholas moved back to England where Joan joined him. She returned to the home of her parents in Louisiana to give birth to her daughter, Rachel Mary Phipps.

In 1967, she took a position with the newly formed Job Corps in St. Louis, Missouri. She received her counseling degree at Washington University in St. Louis and worked as a high school guidance counselor.

In 1977, she decided to follow her mother’s dream of living in Maine full time, picked up and moved to a cooperative farm in Arundel where – for a while – she lived in a tent, then a chicken coop – and where she was now lays in eternal rest.

During the years in between, she was a staunch supporter of the stage, and continued to keep the flame for theater alive throughout her life, acting in and directing teen and community theater, even attending “Conscience” at Portland Stage Company on her 92 birthday.

She was a rabid, dedicated, lifelong democrat, who was active in local democratic activities and events. You would have seen her if you visited the Democratic Headquarters in Kennebunkport over the last many years, or passed by a protest in the area. She was a lifelong contributor to social and economic justice causes. One of her proudest moments was when her transgranddaughter went to the prom with a close friend who was the adopted son of a gay couple.

A voracious reader; you always knew what was on the list of banned books by what was in the pile by her chair.

At work, she was an educator. She earned her master’s degree in counseling as a single mom while raising two children; and retired in 1999 from Marshwood Junior High where she was a guidance counselor for 20 years. Retirement didn’t keep her from the classroom, however; afterward she volunteered in various classrooms in Kennebunk Elementary School, becoming the beloved “Noni” of many children beyond her family.

Joan loved her people – anyone she ever smiled at – she loved her cats; she loved her earth; she was a devoted aunt to her nieces and nephews, and told each of her five grandchildren that they were her favorite.

Joan was an active member of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk for over 45 years, and she was the first person to greet a new member and invite them over for dinner.

Quick to laugh and with a wit sharp as a tack, she was the first person to arrive and the last person to leave any good party. A gifting goddess, she always knew the perfect something to perk a loved one up.

She loved all of the arts, especially jazz and opera. She was an amazing seamstress, having learned from her mother, and knit countless sweaters, quilts and stuffies for all of her friends and family.

In 2007, she sold her house in Kennebunk and renovated a detached unit on her daughter and son-in-law’s property, and lived there for her remaining years, minus three months at Summer Commons Senior Care Community where she received exceptional care and passed peacefully.

She is survived by her daughter and son, their spouses and children; countless others who called her Nona – and there will never be another.

Memorial service will be held at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church in Kennebunk, on Saturday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m.

Donations may made be made to the First Parish Unitarian Church or the Democratics of the Kennebunks and Arundel.