Born on May 1, 1937, in Miami-Dade, FL, she was the youngest of nine children of Huttie Wade and Lois Newsom Atkinson. Joan went to schools in Dade County and graduated from Coral Gables High School. The University of Miami honored her with a full majorette scholarship and she graduated with a Bachelor of Education Degree. After graduation from the U of M in 1959, she married her high school sweetheart, David Houser, Sr. and then taught 1st grade in Tallahassee while her husband finished work on his bachelors degree.
Joan accompanied her husband while he fulfilled his military obligation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. While at Fort Sill her first child, David, Jr. was born. In 1965, Joan accompanied her husband to Palm Beach County, Florida, where he went to work as a West Palm Beach police officer. Over the next few years, she had three more children; Julie, Angela, and Jennifer. On August 23, 2009, Joan and David, Sr. celebrated 50 wonderful years of marriage.
Joan was a simple person yet noble in her heart. She was the glue that kept it together and the diplomat that made it work. She will be remembered as a very supporting and loving wife and for her love of people, especially children, and most of all for her faith in God. Joan had a deep love for her own children and twelve grandchildren.
She was a charter member of the Palm Springs Baptist Church and in more recent years was a member of and faithfully attended the First Baptist Church of Lake Worth.
Joan is survived by her loving husband, Dave; her four children, David, Jr., Julie Douglas, Angela Holcomb, and Jennifer Dragovich; twelve grandchildren; sisters, Margie Hornsby and Nancy Jensen; brother, Ralph Atkinson.
The Houser family will receive their friends on Friday, July 29th from 10 AM until noon at the funeral home, with her funeral service at noon. Mrs. Houser will be laid to rest following her funeral service at South Florida VA National Cemetery, Lake Worth, FL. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to the American Cancer Society. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Dorsey-E. Earl Smith Memory Gardens Funeral Home, 3041 Kirk Road, Lake Worth, FL 33461.
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