Joan (Toni) Zimmerman Brinton of
Kennett Square Joan (Toni) Zimmerman Brinton,83, died Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011.Her
birthplace was Philadelphia. She grew up in Ardmore and Wynnewood.
She learned from her parents, L.
Wilbur and Mary L. Zimmerman, the basic values of life. She had a wonderful
marriage of 62 years with Edward S. Brinton.
She was a graduate of Westtown
Friends School and graduated Cum Laude with honors from Bryn Mawr College in
politics and economics in 1948. She was active in Democratic Party politics in
North Carolina where she was a founding member of the Lenoir County Democratic
Women's Club. She chaired a committee to elect Richardson Pryor governor of
North Carolina. She was a founding member of the first integrated League of
Women Voters south of the Mason Dixon line. While living in Nashville,
Tennessee in the early 1960s, she was active in integrating lunch counters with
her 4-year old son Christopher.
She courageously fought the effects
of pancreatic for four years. When Toni returned to the Philadelphia area, she
became active in horticulture and Quaker activities. She earned a Horticulture
Certificate from Longwood Gardens in the 1970s. A member of the West Chester
Garden Club and the Herb Society of America, Toni served on the Board of the
Tyler Arboretum and the John Bartram Association, where she also served as
president of the Board for six years.
She continued to contribute to the
advancement of the John Bartram Association as an Emeritus Director for over 14
years, selflessly giving her time, service, and financial contributions. As
Chair of Passing, and then Horticulture for the Philadelphia Flower Show, she
was a member of the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society's Council for six years
and chair of the Library Committee. She was a member of the Philadelphia
Committee Garden Club of America since 1975, twice chairing their annual
meetings. She was a recipient of their Distinguished Service Award (1987), the
Zone V GCA award for Horticultural Excellence (1982), Civic Improvement award
(2000), and the Medal of Merit (2007). Toni called herself "a down and
dirty gardener," raising many native and exotic trees, shrubs, and
perennials from seed obtained from the Royal Horticultural Society in England,
from the Rock Garden Society and the Hardy Plant Society. With her husband, she
gardened on a shady, south facing hillside in Chadds Ford, where their garden
was a destination for visits for numerous garden clubs and horticultural
organizations.
When she and her husband moved to
Crosslands community, she co-chaired the Horticulture Therapy Committee. Toni
was an active Quaker, believing in the testimonies of the Religious Society of
Friends, particularly that deadly violence and war are never the answer to the
resolution of conflict. She was a moving force in establishing the Peace Center
and Peace Garden at Birmingham Friends Meeting. She created a trail of
horticultural splendor wherever she lived.
Toni is survived by her brother, Dr.
Milton Zimmerman, her beloved husband, Edward S. Brinton, daughter Mary Gail
Bryan, sons Garry and Christopher, granddaughters, Kate Bryan, Joanna, Cara, and
Talia Brinton, and Olivia Brinton, grandsons Edward Bryan, and William Tucker
Bryan. Relatives and friends are invited to her Memorial Service, 1 p.m.,
Saturday, Jan. 22, at Birmingham Friends Meeting, 1245 S. Birmingham Rd., West
Chester. Interment will be private. Memorial donations may be sent to The John
Bartram Association, 54th St. & Lindbergh Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19143, or
to Birmingham Friends Meeting, 1245 Birmingham Road, West Chester, PA 19382.
Arrangements by DellaVecchia, Reilly,
Smith & Boyd Funeral Home Inc., West Chester 610-696-1181, www.DellaFH.com.
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