Joan Kirby Self

Joan Self was born on May 27, 1934 to James Elmo Yates and Sula Belle Kirby Yates in Texarkana, Arkansas. She grew up in Texarkana and Rockport and graduated from Texarkana High School. She attended East Texas State University in Commerce for one year before heading off to the big city of Dallas.

It was there that she met the love of her life, H.G. “Pete” Self. He helped the cute brunette in the little white shorts carry boxes upstairs to her brand new apartment and a lifelong love affair began. They were married in 1965 until his death in 2002. Joan worked at Sun Oil Company as a statistical typist. She became a stay-at-home mom upon the birth of their daughters. She was a fabulous, if unorthodox, PTA president, Montclair Elementary homeroom mom and Camp Fire leader. She always did things her way – often defying the established order of things. Later, she and Pete owned T-Shirt Creations in Garland and outfitted many local school groups and teams. After closing the shop, she worked for Kemper Insurance until her retirement.

Joan loved country music. She was a devoted and lifelong fan of Willie Nelson. She enjoyed camping with her family even when her daughters complained about sleeping outdoors. She also loved to travel with Pete. Favorite destinations included the Texas Hill Country, Luckenbach, the Alamo, the Pacific Northwest, the Grand Canyon and (in her words) the “John Wayne rocks” in Monument Valley in Arizona. After Pete’s death, her daughter Nancy fulfilled her mom’s lifelong dream and took her to Italy three times. On one Italy adventure, they included Mary Jane’s family. They spent many happy hours savoring Italian food, wine and culture. Her favorite spot on earth was Piazza Rotunda facing the Pantheon in Rome.

Mom was beautiful, strong, stubborn, funny, opinionated and loved her friends and family fiercely. She was a wonderful wife, mom, Nana, aunt and friend. She died on January 25, 2023 in Richardson, Texas. She was preceded in death by her husband Pete, her parents Jim and Sula Yates, and her sister-in-law JoAnne Fluker. She is survived by her daughters Mary Jane Phillips and Nancy Self, her granddaughter Zoe Phillips, her nephews Paul Robert Toal and Peter Michael Toal and a host of treasured friends. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Joan’s memorial service will be on Monday, January 30 at 10:00 am at Ted Dickey West Funeral Home, 7990 President George Bush Turnpike, Dallas, Texas, 75252.