It is with great sadness we share the passing of Joan Stephanie (Schleuder) Hester, age 63, on Saturday, February 8th, at her home on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, after a brief illness. Joan was born in Anderson, Indiana on August 3rd, 1956, to Don L. Schleuder and the late Mary A. Schleuder.
Joan was very artistic and creative her whole life. She loved to draw, paint, read, write, and sew and used these talents throughout her life and career in various ways. She filled her home with beautiful eclectic works of art and used her creative skills to design her home to reflect her personality. It was featured in Better Homes and Gardens in the mid 1990’s. Joan was also very spiritual and loved being physically active. She combined these two passions with a love of Yoga and earned her certification for Foundations of Yoga Therapy. She was a Kundalini yoga instructor. She loved animals and had her pets around her all her life. She had many friends as well, drawn to her loving, generous nature. It felt good to be touched by the warmth of her spirit and personality.
Joan graduated in 1974 from Highland High School in Anderson, Indiana, where she excelled in extra-curricular activities including, gymnastics, student council, band, and journalism as the editor of the student newspaper the Tartan. She attended Indiana University graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Communication in 1978. She received her Masters’ degree in Journalism and Communication in 1982 from the University of Florida in Gainesville. She worked as a reporter at various newspapers in Indiana and Kentucky before earning her PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1986.
She moved to Austin, Texas shortly after and taught as a professor at the University of Texas. It was there she met the love of her life, the late Phil Hester. They were married in July 1988. In 1992 her son and greatest joy, Will was born. She was very involved in many volunteer and PTA activities during his childhood. As a family, they traveled extensively and enjoyed the ocean and many beautiful beaches on the island of St. John and in Roatan, where they built a home.
Joan’s generous spirit was very evident in her hospitality. One could not help but feel her warmth as she opened her home to her friends and the friends of her son over the years. It was the place to gather for fun, food and friendship. Many memories were made.
Joan will be missed by her many friends and family from all over the country. She is survived by her son, Will Hester, her father, Don L. Schleuder, her brothers, Carl Schleuder (Terri) and John Schleuder (Juliann), her nieces, Hannah Asbrock and Heidi Schleuder, her nephews, Nathan Schleuder, Chris Schleuder, Eric Schleuder and Steve Schleuder, also several cousins, two great-nieces and two great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary A. Schleuder and her husband, Phillip D. Hester.
A Funeral service for Joan will be held on Thursday, February 13th at 11:00 am at Weed-Corley-Fish, 411 Ranch Rd, 620 South, Lakeway, Texas 78734. An instrumental musical interlude will precede the service beginning at 10:00 am. Please gather at 12 noon for a luncheon onsite at the facility in the Magnolia Room.
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