Joan Mitchell Fuhrman Jones went peacefully to her blessed Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, shortly after midnight on October 14, 2021, at Mercy Hospital, Springfield, Missouri, after a more than 40-year battle with cancer and 12 years of suffering with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), which left her sick in body but clear and bright in mind and spirit.
Joan was born in Dubuque, Iowa on December 29, 1932, to John Joseph Fuhrman and Helen Mitchell Peterson Fuhrman. She grew up in Bettendorf, graduated from Davenport High School in 1950 and from Grinell College in 1954 pursuing her passion with a major in Art. Later, during an 18-year professional public relations career with the YWCA in Iowa, Texas, Virginia, and California and with the American Red Cross in Los Angeles, she further honed her graphic skills. For fun, she designed costumes for a professional theater company in North Hollywood.
In 1970, Joan met her future husband, Earl (Dick) Jones through a mutual friend, and they were married on May 27, 1972, at El Montecito Presbyterian Church in Montecito, California. They enjoyed a loving and caring relationship which lasted 49 years.
In 1973, the couple moved from North Hollywood to Yucca Valley, near Palm Springs, briefly to Ridgecrest, and in 1977 to Lompoc, California — moves related to Dick’s work.
In 1973, Joan began a 45-year career doing what she loved most – painting, specializing in watercolors and pastels. Her favorite subjects were figures, mostly models, and townscapes, from locations in Mexico, Norway, and the central coast of California. During this period, Joan created hundreds of paintings. Her work has been shown in dozens of juried shows and galleries throughout California’s Central Coast, in Prescott, Arizona and in Alamos, Mexico. She has received dozens of honors and awards. In recent years, she took up jewelry design and producing many on-line video programs.
Joan was a long-time member of PEO, Chapter DP, of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, subsequently of Bethany Lutheran Church, and more recently of Trinity Church of the Nazarene, all in Lompoc, California. While she was able, Joan was very active, attending meetings and services and participating in Bible study groups. She loves the Lord dearly and, without doubt, the feeling is mutual.
A memorial service will be held at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 24, 2021 in Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home, Springfield, MO. Online condolences may be left at gormanscharpf.com.
