Joan Hardy was born September 21, 1938 in Greenville, North Carolina to George E. Taft, Sr. and Dellena Carter, née Hardy. Joan’s grandfather, Murphy Hardy, Sr., a sharecropper, helped raised her. She was always proud of him because of how hard he worked to take care of his family. He spent a lot of time with her and taught her a great deal. While playing in the yard as a little girl, Joan recalls overhearing him say to someone, “You see that girl right there? She’s gonna be somebody someday.” She was also loved and cared for in the homes of her maternal aunts Annie (Woodrow) White and Maggie (Yancey, Jr.) Council.
Joan accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of 12 and grew in her Christian faith as a member of Philippi Missionary Baptist Church in Simpson, North Carolina. She was a diligent Sunday School attendee and active member of the Youth Fellowship Choir, where she sang alto. This was the beginning of her lifelong commitment and devotion to Jesus Christ. Anyone who met Joan could see that she loved the Lord and her life was dedicated to living for Him.
Although living in a segregated system which did not promote academic achievement among Black students, Joan excelled in her pursuit of academic excellence. Joan attended Pitt County Public Schools, loved math, and graduated in 1956 as valedictorian of Pitt County Training School in Grimesland, North Carolina. Pitt County Training School was renamed Whitfield High School after integration in the 1960s.
After high school, she relocated to Brooklyn, New York where she lived with her maternal aunt Tena (Jesse) Shepard-El. Her first secretarial job was with the Etiology Committee of the American Cancer Society. She worked while attending Washington Irving Evening School, where she earned a Certificate in Business Administration.
Joan united with Antioch Baptist Church in Brooklyn in 1960 under the pastorate of Rev. George Lawrence. She continued her regular Sunday School attendance, joined the Young Adult Fellowship and church choir, and began her lifelong attendance at prayer meetings. As a colleague of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Lawrence regularly involved the young adults in Civil Rights Movement activities. Joan used her amazingly accurate shorthand and typing skills to contribute in a variety of ways. It was there that she met and married Robert Bernard Hill, a Brooklyn native and junior deacon, in 1963. They had two children, Bernard Darryl and Renée Michele. When Robert, a sociologist, accepted a job as the National Director of Research with the National Urban League in Washington, DC, the family relocated to Montgomery County, Maryland in 1971. Their marital union lasted until 1977.
Joan united with New Bethel Baptist Church in Washington, DC in 1975 under the pastorate of Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy. Joan’s faith and zeal to work for the Lord grew at New Bethel. She was a devoted Sunday School and prayer meeting attendee and September Circle, Senior Choir, and Edward Brent Prayer Band member. She served as Assistant Superintendent of the Sunday School, was recognized as Mother of the Year, and served as Coordinator for the Single Mothers Ministry in 2006. Joan was appointed to the Deaconess Board in 1979 and became President in 1981. In 1983, Joan joined the Women’s Auxiliary of the General Baptist Deacon’s Association of Washington, DC and Vicinity (Women’s Auxiliary) where she was appointed Corresponding Secretary, later led the monthly education sessions, was chairperson of various committees, and a member of the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home and Advisory Committees. From 2000-2004, she was President of the Women’s Auxiliary and President of the Women’s Auxiliary of the National Baptist Deacons’ Convention of America, Inc.
Joan continued her studies at Washington Bible College in Lanham, Maryland and graduated in 2007 from the Washington Baptist Theological Seminary School of Certification, receiving a Platinum Certification in the Deaconess Ministry. She later became Assistant Dean of the School of Certification. Joan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology from the Washington Baptist Theological Seminary in May 2011.
During her years in the Maryland/DC area, Joan worked as a real estate agent for Colquitt-Carruthers, with the Association of American Colleges and Universities, The George Washington University Graduate Fellowship Information Center, and retired from Clark Construction as an executive secretary in the Concrete Division.
Joan passed away January 12, 2025 and leaves her son, Bernard Hill; daughter-in-love, Bonita Williams; beloved grandson and only grandchild, Braylon Andrew Williams-Hill; daughter, Renée Hill Robinson; son-in-love, Anthony L. Robinson, Sr.; brother, George Earl Taft, Jr. (Edwina); nieces, Michelle Stewart and Patrila Keiosha Hardy; “play” mother, Deaconess Frances Payton; cousins, Asbury (Buddy) (Henrietta) Shepard-El and Thomas Lee (Alethia) Shepard-El; and Cousin Sis (Mary Hardy); her “sis,” cousin Sandra Council; her “sis”, Bernice Sturdivant (Bonita’s mother); brother-in-law, Curtis (Nell) Hill; sister-in-law, Marilyn Evans; and a host of cousins, in-laws, and extended family.
She is preceded in death by her grandfather, Murphy Hardy, Sr.; mother, Dellena Carter; father, George E. Taft, Sr.; sister, Martha Ann Stewart; niece, Jackie Stewart; mother-in-law, Marie Hill; brother-in-law, Dexter Hill; and her beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, nephews, and extended family.

It is suggested that contributions in her memory may be made to the American Heart Association.

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