Joan Marie Williams

Joan was born on May 22, 1931, to Anna Mae and Maxwell Karge, in Rochester, New York. Joan grew up in Brockport, New York, a quaint Victorian Village on the Erie Canal, located in Monroe County. Upon graduating from Brockport High School in 1949, Joan enrolled in nursing school, and it was during her studies that she came across a job posting on the school bulletin board from the U.S. Government, who were searching to recruit secretaries overseas. Always the adventurous heart, Joan applied for the position and at the young age of 21, she set sail across the Atlantic Ocean in 1952 on a ship from Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn, New York for her first secretarial assignment in Orléans, France. After a year in France, Joan received her second assignment in Germany, where she remained for several years, working as a secretary on different U.S. military bases throughout Germany.

Joan enjoyed travelling. Her interest at a young age in history and in different cultures was the catalyst that led her to become a travel enthusiast, and it was this love of adventure that propelled her to travel to different countries throughout Europe and South America.

Joan had an innate talent for learning different languages easily, which included French, German, and Spanish. She always attributed her language skills to learning Latin as a young schoolgirl. Joan’s love of foreign languages and different cultures remained with her throughout her life.

In 1959, Joan met Sgt. Maj. Glenn Arnold Williams in Heidelberg, Germany where they were both stationed. They married and Joan and Glenn went on to have four children together: Richard, Tamara, Dawn, and Marisa.

In early 1968, Glenn was diagnosed with lung cancer and the family relocated back to the United States, where Glenn was to receive treatment at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. Glenn died shortly thereafter on March 28, 1968, and the family remained in Aurora, where Joan chose to raise her children. At the time of Glenn’s death, their three children were all under the age of six, and Joan was pregnant at the time with their fourth child, Marisa, who was born less than four months later in July of the same year. It was also within a year of Glenn’s death that Joan would endure further losses that included her mother, her father, and her older sister Louise.

Joan was a tremendously strong woman who raised her children on her own. She never remarried. Joan was devoted to her children. She provided them all a solid foundation built upon love. She was an excellent provider and one of Joan’s natural gifts was her love of cooking, which she had acquired from her own mother. Her children had the pleasure of tasting throughout their lives the many different culinary dishes Joan had learned to cook on her travels throughout the world, and she had instilled in her children at a very young age the tradition of preparing a heartfelt Sunday dinner. It is a tradition that her children continue today with their own families.

In the early morning of December 23, 2023, Joan awoke to severe back pain. Something was different about this pain, which caused her to call for an ambulance. Her children were notified, and everyone quickly rushed over to the hospital to be with her. Joan was surrounded by all her children and grandchildren, who had gathered for the celebration of Christmas. Her usual self, Joan greeted everyone in the hospital with laughter and humor, and it was her infectious humor that put everyone at ease. It was Joan’s strength and her many years of wisdom that allowed her to depart this life the way she wanted to go, and she did so with honor, dignity, grace, and humility. As a devout Catholic, Joan departed this earthly life on Christmas Eve, where she was safely guided home by her beloved Jesus.

Joan will be greatly missed by many. Everyone, whoever met her, were always touched by her beauty, her grace, her positive outlook on life, and her humor.

Joan is survived by her four children: Richard Williams (Teri), Tamara Richards (Dennis), Dawn Mohni-Williams, and Marisa Steppke, including her seven grandchildren: Christopher and Elizabeth Williams, Joseph Richards, Joshua and Jeremy Mohni, and Anna and Nicolas Steppke.

Some of Joan's favorite scriptures include but are not limited to: Psalm 27, 62, 34:18, 127-128, 136, Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 66:13, Proverbs 31:25, 31:31, Revelations 21:4, Romans 14:8.

It was Joan’s wish to be buried at her family plot in Brockport, New York. Services will be held in early Summer, on June 15, 2024. Joan’s family and friends will be notified accordingly of her pending funeral services.