Joan Marie Hawley

Joan Marie Hawley, 91, passed away and went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on September 11, 2024, at Legacy Meridian Hospital in Tualatin, Oregon. Joan is survived by her brother, Daniel Milan Profant, sister-in-law Vicki Profant (nee Chairez), both of Mission Viejo, CA, Mark Hawley - son, Robert Hawley - son, Rebecca Hilton - daughter, all three of Canby, OR, and Jennifer Van Orsow - daughter, of Oregon City, OR. Joan also leaves two sons-in-law, James Hilton and Michael Van Orsow, nine grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter on the way. As well, she leaves eight nephews and nieces, and many cousins. Joan is preceded in death by her husband, Richard David Hawley, and parents Daniel Profant and Mary Profant (nee Listiak). A Viewing of Joan Hawley will be held at Hillside Chapel, Oregon City, September 24th, 1:00-5:00 PM. A Committal Gathering followed by the Burial will be at Willamette National Cemetery, Portland, September 25th, 1:30-2:00 PM (with a pre-gathering by 1:00 PM at the main office). The Memorial Service/Celebration of Life for Joan will be at Trinity Lutheran Church, Oregon City, October 5th, 10:00 AM. A luncheon at the church will follow the service. Memorial donations can be made in Joan's name to Trinity Lutheran Church, Oregon City. Joan lived a full life, blessed with caring, hard-working immigrant parents, a very devoted brother, and a close-knit extended family of Slovak heritage. She was especially blessed with her loving and devoted husband, Richard, who gifted his bride with three wonderful sisters-in-law (Marianne "Cookie" Shoemaker, Patricia "Pat" Ruble, and Kay Chet from Lorain, Ohio) who took her in as one of their own. As well, her brother Dan brought her another blessing with his wife Vicki. And Joan was most blessed with the knowledge that Jesus Christ died for her sins and rose again. Joan was born in Lorain, Ohio, and moved to Santa Ana, California where she met her husband Richard "Dick" Hawley, a United States Marine stationed at the Marine Corps Air Facility (the "LTA") in Santa Ana, California which housed and maintained helicopters during the Korean War and afterward. Mom was born in Lorain, Ohio, near the shores of Lake Erie, February 9th, 1933. Coincidentally, both Joan and her husband Dick were both born and raised in Lorain, Ohio, and even attended the same high school, at the same time, separated in grade level by only half a year. Joan recognized Dick at a YWCA dance in Santa Ana, recalling fleeting encounters with him while both attended Lorain High School in their Ohio hometown. Dick Hawley was to become her husband and the father of their four children. After an introduction made through a bolder friend and fellow nursing student, who accompanied Joan to the dance (attended by nursing students and Marines from the helicopter base) she had her first dance with her future husband. They dated, and were married soon after, before he was shipped overseas to Japan during the Korean War. After the Korean War and her husband's honorable discharge, Joan and Dick began civilian life together. Joan bore their two sons, Mark and Bob, and daughter Becky in Santa Ana. in 1965 Joan, Dick and their family moved to El Toro, California where she and Dick raised their family. There in the Saddleback Valley of South Orange County, she served her Lord as an organist for Abiding Savior Lutheran Church. She gave birth to her youngest daughter Jennifer in Mission Viejo during that time. Eventually Joan, Dick, and their two daughters relocated in Canby, Oregon where she lived the rest of her life, regularly attending two Lutheran Church Missouri Synod congregations, Hope Lutheran Church in Woodburn and Trinity Lutheran Church in Oregon City. Joan continued to serve the Lord as a church organist for many years in the Willamette Valley, until arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome became too debilitating for her to continue playing. Joan had quite a few close friends throughout her life, in Ohio, California, and Oregon. She was shy and introverted by nature, but her good friends (Louise Hall, Marilyn Goad, Helen Hollenbeck, Jan Kluth, Judy Daudt, her Aunt Sue Mraz, her first cousins Sue Knoess, Andrea Krupka, and Alicia Vargo, and sister-in-law Vicki Profant, and many other friends and cousins) brought her out of her shell, whereby she was more willing to share her own sarcastic wit, that revealed her keen perception of the ironies and absurdities of earthly life. Besides singing in the choir and playing the piano and organ, Joan loved sewing, cooking, baking, ceramics, cameras, photography, photo albums (lots of 'em!), gadgets, computers, Agatha Christie novels, reading and studying the Bible, and a good movie or TV show (that ranged from romance to detective/mystery to science fiction). Perhaps her favorite pastime was chatting with her younger brother Dan. The two siblings shared a special bond, sense of humor, and repartee that was a joy to witness. Most of all, she loved spending time with her husband, children, sons-in-law, grandchildren, extended family, and good friends. As well as being a housewife, Joan worked as a bookkeeper and in clerical support for several CPA's and EA tax consultants, including her sister-in-law Caryl Profant and George Douglas, CPA. Joan neither considered herself bold nor daring, but truly was a fighter, whether she realized it or not. This became evident later in her life when she was afflicted with three different and unrelated forms of cancer...and beat them all with the Lord's help. She was truly a survivor. Her last fight was with with weakening kidneys and respiratory distress, brought on by a lung infection, likely pneumonia, which she finally succumbed to. The Lord decided it was time to take her home. All of her family and friends will miss Joan dearly, but we take joy knowing that she now dwells with her Lord and Savior. ------------------------

Joan Marie Hawley

February 9, 1933 - September 11, 2024