Joey Louise Bedford was born July 7, 1928, in Sayre, Pa., the last surviving child in the family of the late Charles and Hazel (Rodgers) Bedford. She grew up on the family’s dairy farm in the center of the village of East Canton and attended school at East Canton Grade School through Canton High, Class of 1946 and a 1950 graduate of Mansfield State College.
In the East Canton United Methodist Church, while dressed in the wedding dress she hand-made, Joey married the love of her life and best friend, Frank Herman, Jr. in 1949. The Hermans shared 43 blessed years together of which Joey admitted, “were too short of years”. Frank passed away unexpectedly on Jan. 29, 1992.
Joey found her calling nurturing young children as a Kindergarten Teacher with Towanda Area School District for 26 years. She also was a devoted member of the East Canton United Methodist Church her entire life. She possessed a strong faith in the Lord’s word and taught Sunday school and Bible study classes in the church as well as in her home for years. When the Head Start Education Program began, Joey taught in Ralston for two summers. She was also a member of the National Education Association and the Pennsylvania School Retirees.