Obituary: Joan Warren

Joan Warren

Joan Warren

Our Joanie came to Earth via Chicago, Ill., on Dec. 11, 1930. Walter and Cecil Nommensen were so proud that day as another girl was added to the family. Joan was very young when her mother passed away and the task fell on her dad and grandmother Mary to guide her through life. They must have done a great job as she graduated from Bowen High School in Chicago.

While in her senior year she made the mistake of going on a date with a sailor from Great Lakes, Ill.; they were married on Feb. 25, 1950. From that moment on she became a Navy wife and loved every minute of it. While Walter was in the Navy, they traveled from coast to coast. They spent three years on Guam, M.I., and while there, they saw many other places. Along the way she was blessed with three boys. After the Navy adventure she and her husband Wally and the three boys made their home in Prescott. She held various jobs in the community, and was involved with the Smoki People - she held the position of Head Squaw (Chieftess) in 1976. But the open road called her once more with several trips to Alaska, Colorado and Canada, and numerous areas throughout the southwest. Some of her favorite moments were riding on the back of a motorcycle and she loved going out on the Ponton boat fishing. She fought that old grizzly bear cancer and lost.

She was preceded in death by her father and mother and stepmother. She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Walter (Wally); sons Eric (Stephane), Paul (Sherrie) and Mark (Lisa); grandchildren Alex, Will, Rachael, Raymond and Amy; brother Wallace (Corinne) Nommensen of Bakersfield, Calif.; sister Ann Smith of Prescott and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

A celebration of Joan's life will be 11 a.m. Friday, March 20, 2009, at the Arizona Ruffner Wakelin Funeral Home, corner of Cortez at Carleton, with a Smoki barbeque following in the Carriage House.

The family suggests memorials to YRMC Hospice Restricted Fund, 3262 N. Windsong Drive, Prescott Valley, AZ 86314.

You are invited to log onto www.ruffnerwakelin.com to view a tribute to Joan and to sign her guest book, and share a memory with the family.

Information provided by survivors.


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