Remembering Joan as Daughter, Sister, Aunt, Great-Aunt, Friend, Mom, Grandma
Joan as a daughter and a sister - Wilmot and Watertown
Joan's adoptive parents - our Grandpa Walt and Grandma Lou at their wedding. Small photos of Joan as a baby!, and with older brother, Keith. Right photo shows Joan on the far left with family & neighbor kids in Wilmot.
Joan with her favorite bunny.
And she loved chickens!
Here with her favorite kitty.
And more cats!
All grown up! Watertown and the WAC
The whole family with granddaughter Teri! (From left: Walt, Keith holding Teri, Joan, and Lou.)
Joan graduated from Watertown High School in 1963. From there she and a friend joined the WACs (Women's Air Corps) where she served a short time, and after some trial and error was discharged.
She moved back to Watertown to start a new career studying to be a dental assistant. While in Watertown, she ended up meeting and marrying Dennis Mahlen in 1967.
Married with children - Minneapolis and Webster
1967 wedding in Watertown, SD.
Dennis and Joan raised Steve (born 1967) and Nancy (born 1969) in Minneapolis until 1976, when they moved the family to Webster, SD, and back to their roots.
On her own in Rapid City
After Joan and Dennis split up in 1992, Joan moved to Rapid City to care for her Aunt Grace, who suffered from Alzheimers.
Joan took trips to see her brother and his family in Las Vegas and also to visit Nancy who went to UNLV and remained in Vegas for a few more years. This photo is of niece Penny and Brian's wedding. Front row from left, brother Keith, niece Penny and her husband Brian and their daughter Charianne, Keith's wife Bernie; back row from left, daughter Nancy, Joan, Aunt Grace and Ep Howe, niece Renee, and niece Teri.
Left photo shows Joan with Keith's second wife, Dianna. Middle photo is Joan in Rapid City proudly showing off a good catch! Right photo is of Joan visiting Las Vegas and enjoying pool time.
While in Rapid City, Joan discovered a love of motorcycles and trikes. She spent a lot of time working on bikes and trikes at "the shop" with Ed and friends. She also enjoyed riding with friends, and spending time enjoying nature and fishing up in the Hills. Her trike "Penelope" did not escape Joan's artistic talents - and soon the trike was covered in rosemaling!
Joan won many awards with her trike Penelope, and her show trike "Le Rose". The Sturgis Bike Rally sure created a lot of great memories!
Living the Life in Las Vegas
All of us live our lives balancing our light and dark sides. In the late 1990's and early 2000's Joan was losing the battle with her dark side. Family discussions helped Joan make the decision to move to Las Vegas to be closer to her brother and his family and to begin the road to recovery. We are all glad she did!
Travels to Washington
Travels to Maine
Travels to Maine
Fun in Maine
After quite a few years living in Las Vegas, a new adventure began when Joan retired from her cleaning work and moved in with daughter Nancy and family. And so it came to pass that Nancy and Joan did a three day drive from Las Vegas, NV to Geneseo, NY!
Moving in with Family - NY and ND
Joan's grandsons were the true winners having Grandma Joan living so close now. It was very convenient to visit Steve and his family!
