Joan M. Hohlbein

3/30/1913 5/6/2015 102 yrs 37 days old Joan was born outside of the town of Baker, Montana and moved to the NW sometime before 1924. She was the oldest of seven children (Mary, Billy, Jimmy, Ella, Patty, and Ronnie). Always active, Joan began to work at the age of 15 as a model for the Bon Marche along with other businesses. She spent time working in the box offices of downtown theaters eventually transitioning to an accounting job for the John Hamerick theaters. One of her loves was dancing and she began to teach ballroom dance at Veloz and Yolanda, then for Arthur Murray studios where she eventually managed three of the studios. She had other jobs over the years including a short stay with the Boeing Company as a times keeper runner. Joan always enjoyed people so sales was a natural career path for her. She was a licensed real estate agent with West and Wheeler and then transitioned into a sales woman for Washington Natural Gas where she worked until retirement. After she retired she dabbled in real estate sales again and got her brokers license with John L. Scott. When she was in her 70s she began driving all over Washington selling advertising in small town cook books. Joan was always on the go and held jobs well into her 80s. Joan married Gordon Hohlbein when she was sixteen and they had three children (Sandra, Craig, and Betty Lou). They invested in real estate and bought, sold, and rented many homes and apartments throughout the Seattle area. They were married for 65 years until Gordon passed away in 1996 at the age of 85. Her son Craig passed away in 2000 at the age of 50. Joan also loved to travel! She enjoyed life to the fullest and was always traveling with her grandkids, friends or by herself. There were multiple large family trips to Disneyland with her grandkids as well as with her sisters and their grandkids. She traveled to Canada, Hawaii, England, Spain, Russia, and Mexico. Joan will be remembered by her loving family including her children, Sandra and Betty Lou, her five grandchildren: Laura, Patty, Erik, Russell, and Laura; and four great grandchildren: Zachary, Devin, Tyler, and Sean.