JoAnn K. Carlson

A woman of unwavering faith, JoAnn K. Carlson lived a life rich in family and friends. JoAnn was exceedingly kind, adventurous, and very strong-willed in a sit back kind of way. Whether as a nurse, parent, neighbor, fellowship member, volunteer, or friend, JoAnn touched everyone who crossed her path and generously cared for others in any way she could. With a warm smile and open heart, JoAnn was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend, who will long be remembered by those she so dearly loved.

1926 found the nation continuing to ride the roaring wave of peace, prosperity, and hope. It proved a decade of many firsts, including the birth of motels, Sears Roebuck stores, broadcasts from the Grand Ole Opry, Chrysler Corporations, the 40-hour workweek, and the nation’s first female governor. As the wave of sweeping social and economic growth rapidly increased nowhere was there more hope for the future than in the hearts and home of George and Katherine Owen as they welcomed their daughter JoAnn to their family on September 15, 1926, in LaPorte, Indiana.

Until she was ten, JoAnn grew up in LaPorte and enjoyed spending summers on Nana’s farm with all her cousins. Then her family moved to Port Huron, Michigan, where her mother was a homemaker and church volunteer and her father a banker. JoAnn’s parents were upstanding people who taught JoAnn the importance of community service and instilled good values. JoAnn was a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan, her father used to take her to a Tigers game on her birthday for many years.

After graduating from high school in Port Huron JoAnn attended the Bronson School of Nursing in Kalamazoo, Michigan, intending to become a nurse cadet but the war was over by the time she graduated. While in school, JoAnn agreed to a blind date with her future husband, Donald “Swede” Carlson. The couple met at Echo Valley to go sledding. Instantly smitten, Don fondly recalled that as soon as he got his arms around JoAnn that day on the sled, he never let go. While dating, JoAnn didn’t always make it back to the dorms before curfew, so Donald, being tall, would boost her up to the window, so she could sneak back in. She and the other nurses eventually took to throwing the sign-in book in the furnace one night.

With their hearts set on building a future together, the happy couple married on March 20, 1948, at First Methodist Church in Kalamazoo. As JoAnn was a skilled nurse and Don a skilled carpenter, the highly-employable couple set off on a honeymoon adventure, intending to move to Florida. As they reached Atlanta, Georgia, they decided to head west, instead, and ended up in Denver, Colorado. In time, they ventured to Albuquerque, New Mexico before returning to Kalamazoo after their first child was born and they longed for their extended family’s support in raising their children.

As their family grew to include four children, the boys quickly became the centers of JoAnn’s world. She loved being a nurse and raising her sons, and with her husband at her side, she created a loving and supportive home. Over the years, the family enjoyed many trips including traveling to Key West, New Mexico, and Salt Lake City for Don’s conference. Closer to home, the family enjoyed time in the Manistee National Forest, and renting a cottage where they made wonderful memories “Camping with the Johnsons.”

At home, JoAnn enjoyed singing in the church choir, quilting, and tending to others. She knitted mittens by the tens and twenties, so all the grandchildren would have mittens, and she could donate the rest to different school classes. Her home was always open for anyone who needed a place, she and Don helped numerous people, including Mike Rorick, Debbie Senese, and many others. JoAnn enjoyed life’s simple pleasures like making chili with cornbread on top and ending her night with a big bowl of ice cream.

In retirement, JoAnn and Don moved to Minor Lake in Allegan, Michigan, where they renovated the family cottage into a year-round home and created many cherished memories with their children, grandchildren, and extended family at their annual 4th of July gathering and by sharing many other special times together. JoAnn and Don also embraced the opportunity to travel, visiting relatives as far away as Sweden, and celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip traveling by train and boat to Alaska.

An inspiration to all who knew her, JoAnn’s legacy of generosity, kindness, enduring love and support, faith that “What will be will be,” and embracing life as an adventure, will surely live on in the lives she touched.

JoAnn Carlson of Kalamazoo, age 99, died on September 29, 2025. JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Donald, and her beloved son David. Surviving are her children: Mike (Sandee), John (Coleen), and Ken Carlson; 7 grandchildren, 9 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.

Please join us at a Life Story Service on Monday, October 27 at 11 am at Betzler Life Story Funeral Homes, 6080 Stadium Drive, Kalamazoo (269) 375-2900. A reception will follow in the Life Story center where food, drink, and stories can be shared. Burial at Genessee Prairie Cemetery following reception.

Celebrate JoAnn’s life online by sharing your favorite stories and photos on her dedicated webpage at BetzlerLifeStory.com. Memorial contributions may be made to Smile Train or Bronson Health foundation.