Joan Claire Sheridan

Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Joe and Edla Lamping. She is survived by her husband of nearly 60 years, Mike; her daughter, Kimberley, and her husband Keith; sons Timothy and his wife Denise and Sean and his wife Linette; along with grandchildren Cooper, Mollie, Brody, Sam, Rachel, Henry, Olivia, Margaret and Evelyn.

Joan was born on August 9, 1937 in Spokane, Washington. As a young teenager, she became involved in a Young Life Club led by Bill Starr, who in 1954 took the group to the very first camp at the Malibu Club in Canada to serve on the work crew. Thus began Joan’s history of giving her life away to people and pointing them to a personal rela-tionship with Jesus.

After graduating from Whitworth College, Joan moved to the Bay Area in California (the beginning of living in places all starting with the letter “C”!) and joined the Corinthians Young Adult class at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, where she met Mike. They married in November of 1961, and no matter where they lived and served, Joan was a part of a Bible study and a tennis club.

Joan taught 4th grade until Kim was born, and then Mike was transferred to New York City. The family lived in Connecticut, where Tim and Sean were born. In a major life change and step of faith, the family moved in 1971 to West Vancouver, Canada, and Mike became the property manager for the very same Malibu Club that Joan had served at years earlier. She was the buyer for the camp’s store and had a wonderful time raising her children in such a unique setting. It was an exciting and special time for the family, and many great memories and lifelong relation-ships were formed.

In 1978 the family moved to Colorado Springs for Mike to manage all of Young Life’s properties, cementing a shared, lasting vision with Joan of creating beautiful places where kids could hear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. In 1992, they moved back to California, this time to revitalize the Mission Springs Camp and Confer-ence Center in Scotts Valley. After a brief “retirement” in 2001, Joan and Mike returned to Canada to help build Young Life Canada’s RockRidge Canyon in Princeton, British Columbia, closing out a remarkable legacy of devel-oping special places and people.

Those who knew Joan will fondly remember her as, among other things, an ace pinochle player (who, yes, was prone to friendly table talk), a baker of rhubarb and huckleberry pies with perfect crusts, a big fan of watching the major tennis tournaments, a mentor to many, and a champion for family gatherings. She devoted herself to being a faithful wife, mother and grandmother who dearly loved her family, to whom she was affectionally better known as “Mor Mor.”

In her dying days, Joan conveyed a profound spirit of grace and faith. The scripture that asks us to “be still and know that He is God” was exceptionally meaningful to her; she wanted people to know that a relationship with Je-sus was at the center of all she did in this life, that all was well with her soul, and that she was moving on to a better place.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Young Life Camp Scholarship Fund, the First Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs Deacon Fund, or the Colorado Springs Rescue Mission. A memorial service of celebration is planned for 11:00 am on September 11, 2021, in the Green Room at Kissing Camels Golf Course at Garden of the Gods Club in Colorado Springs.