Joan Lipfert grew up in Pennington, England and moved to Ottawa, Ontario after World War II to live with her sister's family. She lived in Middleton, Connecticut and then finally in Woolwich, Maine beginning in 1963. She worked in the office for the Maine Organic Farmers' and Gardeners' Association and also helped to organize their Common Ground Fair. She helped start the Jacquata School and was also a receptionist at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.