Joan Rae Wilson was born in Priest River, Idaho on August 9, 1933 and died in Sedona, Arizona on June 25, 2026. She was 92 years old, less than two months away from her 93rd birthday. She was preceded in death by her parents, Thomas D. Welsh and Ruth E. Welsh; two husbands, Richard A. Kamlin and Louis Wilson Jr.; and grandchild Jewell L. Hayes. She leaves surviving sister Mary L. Wright; children Marian K. Kamlin, Audrey L. Scheven, and Ronald T. Kamlin; step-children Louis Wilson III and Carole Wilson; sons-in-law David Scheven and Omar Boukella; and grandchildren Tyler Scheven, Spenser Scheven, Sonora Scheven, Zhane Hayes and Leila Boukella.

Joan grew up during a time of great transformation in the United States, from the Great Depression to great economic power. As a child, she lived for a time in the only finished part of a house: the basement. She took it upon herself at a young age to get hired as a strawberry picker at a nearby farm, riding her bicycle to and from this work during summer vacations for a couple of years. This bicycle gave her extra freedom, so when a pack of neighborhood dogs threatened her, she did not hesitate to return the next day with a large stick and threaten them right back. This is just one of many stories that show the determination of spirit that sustained her throughout her life.

In fact, Joan was famous for her “Mom” stories because she loved recounting the many adventures that she either participated in or instigated. And she does leave a legacy in this way because all of her children have also become story-tellers! In addition to adventures, Joan also can claim achievements such as winning a prize in an essay contest as a high school student that included a trip to Washington D.C. in order to receive a gold watch from the President of the United States himself, Harry S. Truman. Later, as a single mother, she instilled a love of camping and travel in her children: Marian, Audrey and Ron. She and her friend, Virginia Clarke, took their combined six children on many outdoor adventures after they met while they were both attending graduate school for library science. Prior to the camping and hiking adventures, Joan was also able to make a grand summer trip to both Europe - where she joined her sister Mary, brother-in-law Curt and nephew David for a memorable car tour of Germany and other countries near their US Air Force base in Germany - and Egypt - where she joined other members of the Rosicrucian Order for a tour that included the obligatory camel ride near the pyramids. She returned home with wondrous souvenirs, much to the delight of her three young children, aged three to seven. This sparked her appreciation for foreign travel and possibly led to her sending all three children off to high school summer group holidays in Europe; traveling to North Yemen to visit her US Peace Corps daughter; traveling to again visit that daughter who was then working in the United Arab Emirates; and also traveling to Nigeria along with her second husband, Louis Jr., and step-son Louis III, where they were welcome guests of a traveling church choir group. This trip resulted in a lifelong friendship with the daughter of a Nigerian family, Iye, who came and stayed with Joan and Louis for a few months sometime later. Joan’s final big trip was a 2013 visit to Machu Picchu with her daughter, Audrey, who knew that this was a bucket-list event for her. Other memorable “Mom” stories included climbing fences when she was well into her 50’s in order to reach the celebration at the Golden Gate bridge in 1987 and dancing with World Cup Brazilian fans in Los Gatos, California in 1994.

But after all is said and done, Joan is remembered primarily for her warm and generous spirit. There was a Thanksgiving meal with so many guests that they had to borrow a room at the campus where she was working at the time. There were multiple longterm houseguests ranging from exchange students to family members to friends of family members to people she simply met in the course of life, including a pair of Mormon missionaries and Vicki (Coble) Mott, who stayed with the family in order not to miss school while her single father traveled as a migrant farm worker. Joan also loved and supported both of her husbands very well. For example, she was a willing partner in two adventurous summer stints on a fire lookout with Richard during Idaho’s fire season, and she was also a significant support to Louis as he studied for and earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree and then started his independent practice.

Her own job history was quite varied. We remember her best as a librarian, both at Prospect High School immediately after completing her Master’s degree and later at JFK University. In her early days, she worked as a stringer at the Sacramento Bee newspaper and as a window display seamstress for the Singer sewing machine company. She even had her own successful resume-writing business for a few years after moving on from Prospect High School! For Joan, every endeavor was an adventure, and she absolutely believed that anyone, man or woman, could do anything they wanted in this life; she did not find herself to be extraordinary.

In her final years, Joan lived in the Sedona, Arizona house that she had bought with her husband Louis, able to remain there until the end with the invaluable support of her family, most especially her son, Ron, who was her primary caretaker. But as with everything else in a successful life, it took a team, and the family greatly appreciates the help of all of her care-providers, particularly Rechie and Shirley. Joan died peacefully in her sleep after a long decline into dementia that nevertheless did not completely remove her ability to recognize the people she loved, and we remember with gratitude that she retained her serenity of spirit even in her final days.