Joan S. Frieder, 65, warrior in fight against cancer

Joan Snellenburg Frieder, 65, of Bala Cynwyd, a former marketing and personnel director, died of lung cancer yesterday at home.

In 2000, Mrs. Frieder's husband, David, learned he had lung cancer. The couple's journey fighting his disease was chronicled in a video produced by the Wellness Community, a national nonprofit organization serving people with cancer and their families. The Frieders were active in the Philadelphia chapter.

After her husband died in November 2005, Mrs. Frieder attributed her back pain to strain from caring for him. She developed other symptoms, and in July the same type of lung cancer her husband had was diagnosed. Both had stopped smoking more than 15 years ago.

While still grieving for her husband, she aggressively fought the cancer, her daughter Sally Salon said, and received support from the Wellness Community.

Mrs. Frieder graduated from Abington High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Beaver College, now Arcadia University.

She was personnel director for three years for Hay Group, a management consulting firm in Philadelphia, and for six years was director of marketing, recruitment and administrative services for the Mesirov, Gelman, Jaffe, Cramer & Jamieson law firm in Philadelphia. She then assisted her husband, a financial consultant.

Mrs. Frieder was an enthusiastic Philadelphia sports fan, Salon said. After marrying David Frieder, a Cincinnati native, in 1976, she also became a Reds baseball fan. The couple were copresidents of the Old York Little League in Melrose Park in the 1970s.

They had a vacation home in Garrett County, Md., where Mrs. Frieder enjoyed bird-watching and painting birds, flowers and scenery. She loved doing crossword puzzles, playing Scrabble, and exercising her mind, her daughter said.

In addition, Mrs. Frieder is survived by a son, John Rubin; another daughter, Abby Rubin; stepdaughters Deborah Joseph, Julie Stanzione, Margot Frieder and Andrea Heines; three sisters; 12 grandchildren; and her former husband, Mark Rubin.

A graveside service will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow at Roosevelt Memorial Park, Trevose. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. next Thursday at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., Philadelphia.