JOAN DEE QUINN 1932 – 2023
Joan Dee Quinn, 91, of Galveston, Texas, passed away on June 17, 2023, in Galveston. Joan was born February 22, 1932, in Navasota, Texas, to John Donahue Quinn, Jr., and Velma Farmer Quinn.
Joan grew up in Navasota, Texas. She was an active member of the Navasota community and served as twirler and drum major in the Navasota High School Band. She graduated from NHS in 1949 and was the 1949 Watermelon Festival Queen.
Joan attended Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where she was a member of Alpha Delta Phi. She graduated from Southwestern with a BFA in Art. She met her first husband, Pete, at Southwestern, and Joan and Pete were married in 1953 in Galveston. Pete enlisted in the Air Force and became a fighter pilot, and his service took them to New York before they returned to the Houston area. The family later relocated to Richmond, Virginia, and then
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Albuquerque, New Mexico. Joan attended nursing school in Albuquerque and became a Registered Nurse. She was very proud of her work in pediatric nursing.
Joan loved sewing, often designing clothing and costumes for her children and local groups, as well as knitting and crocheting. She loved music and dancing, traveling, and spending time with her children and grandchildren.
Joan was preceded in death by her sister Velma “Maggie” Quinn; her former husband, Lester John “Pete” Peterson, Jr.; and her husband, Robert Dort.
She is survived by her three children, Cory Lawson and her husband Jon of St. Louis, Gail Peterson of Galveston, and Anthony Peterson and his wife Kressa of Dana Point; grandchildren, Charles Tonjes, Amanda Durdin, Layla Parks, Robert Lawson, Dana Lawson, Conner Peterson, and Daniel Lawson; great-grandchildren, Cole Durdin, Grace Durdin, Charlie Parks, and Rylan Parks; and her lifelong best friend, Boyce Ann Lewis Miller of Navasota.
In the last years of her life, Joan was a resident at Autumn Springs Home Care Community in Galveston. Her family would like to thank Velmashia Rawls and her team at Autumn Springs, as well as Anchor Hospice Nurses Stacy and Penny and their aide, Joy, for the loving care given to Joan.
The family is not planning a funeral or memorial service. Instead, and in lieu of flowers, they ask that you consider making a tribute donation to the Alzheimer’s Association in Joan’s name at http://act.alz.org/ goto/joan_dee_quinn.