Joan Davenny was born on August 17, 1948 in San Francisco, CA to Burt and Betty Edelstein. Raised in a Zionist family which emphasized Jewish values, Joan became a teacher of history and Judaism in the Ezra Academy Day School in Woodbridge, CT. There she established a program for bar-mitzva aged children which included a trip to Israel. She yearly accompanied 8th graders on their school trip to Israel.
In July 1995, Joan arrived in Israel to spend a year studying at the Hebrew University. On August 21, 1995 a suicide bomber exploded himself on bus 326 in Jerusalem. Joan, in bus #9 which was standing next to the other bus, was among the four people killed.
Joan was buried in Har Hamenuchot in Jerusalem. She left behind her parents, a daughter who was 18 at the time and two sisters.
