ORONO - Joan Woodman Bishop, 82, passed away at home in Orono, ME, on Friday, December 24, 2021. Joan was born in Portland, Maine on October 27, 1939, the youngest child of Lloyd G. and Edna R. (Ramburg) Woodman. She grew up in Biddeford, ME, with her two siblings Richard and Marjorie Woodman. She graduated with full honors from Biddeford High School in 1957 with the ambition "to help people, through science." Joan completed a Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of Maine in 1961, followed by a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Certificate in Advanced Graduate Study from the same university over the course of the next decade. A main tenet of Joan's philosophy can be summed up in a phrase she repeated often throughout the course of her life: "People are more important than things." She dedicated herself to two main objectives in her adult life: raising her sons, and teaching her students to read. For more than three decades she worked as a Reading Specialist at Jefferson Street School in Old Town, Maine, supporting children in the early grades to read at age level. Her commitment to the development of literacy in children even launched her across the world to New Zealand, where she studied the Reading Recovery system for teaching children to read. Joan had a real love of animals, both domestic and wild. Her most recent pet, a mischievous feline named Burt, was a beloved companion for many years. She supported a number of charities that protected wildlife and had a deeply-felt fondness and abiding respect for elephants. She prized her solitude and solitary pursuits. She was an avid reader– literally surrounding herself with books throughout her life– and a lover of paper puzzles. She completed crosswords, sudokus, and other word games religiously on a daily basis. Due to her commitment to a nearly hermetic life, gaining access to her was often an uphill battle for both family and friends. Her sons so truly appreciate the enduring efforts of her great friends Katie, Mary, and Cynthia (her college roommate!) to keep in touch over the years despite her stubborn resistance. Her family cannot fully express the gratitude they feel for her caretaker, Joe, who had an uncanny ability to invite her back into life in the last months before she passed. She leaves two sons, Peter Bishop of Pleasant Valley, New York, and Brett Bishop of Suffield, Connecticut, as well as five granddaughters. She is survived as well by her sister Marjorie Miller, and several nephews and nieces. She was predeceased by her brother, Richard Woodman. A private gathering will be held at a later time. Memorial gifts may be made to the Raising Readers program at MaineHealth, attn. Raising Readers, 110 Free Street, Portland, Maine 04101.