Joan Louise Rupp

A devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Joan Louise Rupp passed away peacefully on November 7, 2019 at the age of 90 joining her husband of 65 years, Joseph and daughter Killienne in the hereafter. She is survived by her children Michael and Susan, adoptive daughter Char, son and daughter in-law Jim and Bea, grandchildren Miles, Kelsey and Christie, and great-granddaughter Emma.

Joan was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1929 to Earl and Olive Grimm, a shoe worker and housewife the year the stock market crashed. Joan and her three brothers, Wayne, Lyle, and Ed were not strangers to poverty as the family struggled through the Great Depression Years. With support from the Methodist Church, Joan worked the counter at the local fountain and paid her way to a degree in Journalism at Ohio University where she met the love of her life, Joe Rupp. They married in 1951 and had three children, Michael, Susan, and Kelly. With Joe serving in the Navy and Air Force, the family moved to Texas and Colorado before settling in Claremont, California.

Known as a mother to all with a big heart, children were drawn to Joan everywhere they lived. She supported children in need in her professional life as a social worker who rose to the rank of Deputy Administrator of Family and Children’s Services for Los Angeles County. Retiring after 35 years, Joan and Joe moved to Roxborough, Colorado, to help their daughter Susan raise her twins, Miles and Kelsey. As a devoted grandmother, she came each morning to get the children ready for school and helped with homework while cooking dinner each night. She managed the gifted readers program at the elementary school, made the costumes for the plays, and cheered from the sidelines at soccer games. As a tribute to her drive for life-long learning she provided college tuition to many family members and was known for having a sharp mind which she occupied with her wide selection of novels, daily crosswords, games of scrabble and habitually beat the rest of the house to the correct answers on Jeopardy. For as long as we’ve known her, she was the one with all the answers, a true pillar of her family who will be sorely missed.

A service honoring Joan's life will be held on Sunday, November 17, 2019 at 2:00 pm at Olinger Chapel Hill Mortuary, 6601 S Colorado Blvd, Centennial, CO 80121. Visitation will be held one hour prior. Guests are invited to a reception at Olinger Chapel Hill, immediately following the service. Joan will be laid to rest, privately, at Olinger Chapel Hill Cemetery, Centennial.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a memorial contribution in Joan’s name to the Denver Rescue Mission, one of her favorite charities.