Joanne (Russell) Bayreuther Mitchell

KENNEBUNK – Joanne (Russell) Bayreuther Mitchell, 92, died peacefully on March 3, 2024 at home in Kennebunk, with family at her side.

She was born Joanne Carol Russell on Jan. 7, 1932 in Morristown, N.J. to Maine natives Evelyn Bridges Russell and Justin Pooler Russell. She spent her childhood years on a farm in Chester, N.J., and graduated from Bernardsville High School.

Joanne attended Panzer College of Physical Education while working at Fidelity Union Trust Company, where she met William A. Bayreuther, Jr. Joanne and Bill married in 1954 and she left the workforce to devote her time to the raising of their four children. She and Bill lived most of their married life in Chatham, N.J. and Cape Elizabeth. Joanne re-entered the workforce as a secretary at Fairmont Avenue Middle School in Chatham, and later served as Assistant to the Director of the Portland Museum of Art and Executive Assistant at Elliot J. Berv and Associates, both in Portland.

Following Bill’s death in 1989, Joanne lived at the family camp on Pleasant Pond in Caratunk before marrying Warren W. Mitchell, with whom she resided principally in The Villages, Fla. and Falmouth and Gorham before they moved to Huntington Common in Kennebunk.

A painstaking and accomplished genealogist, Joanne spent many years tracing her family’s lineage. She enjoyed her participation in the General Society of Mayflower Descendants and Daughters of the American Revolution.

Joanne considered Pleasant Pond “home.” She grew up spending time at Sweet Home, the original Russell family camp that dates back to the late nineteenth century, and she and Bill put a great deal of effort into the renovation of two subsequent West Shore Road camps, one of which is still owned and enjoyed by the family. Her kids’ friends always knew that she had great meals and a place in her heart for them.

Joanne was predeceased by brother, Bruce B. Russell; husbands Bill and Warren; and son-in-law, Mark Y. Schaub.

She is survived and remembered with much love by children William A. Bayreuther, III and wife Gari of Readfield, Todd P. Bayreuther of Old Orchard Beach, Anne B. Schaub of Newtown, Pa., and John M. Bayreuther and wife Jessica of Canaan, N.H.; 12 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.

As she wished, Joanne’s family will celebrate her life at the family camp.

Arrangements are by Hope Memorial Chapel, 480 Elm St., Biddeford, ME 04005.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the

Memorial Fund of the Pleasant Pond

Protective Association,

P.O. Box 36,

Caratunk, ME 04925