Joan Privman

Joan Privman, resident of Las Vegas, NV., and comfortable wherever a game of maj jongg broke out, passed away on May 4, 2026, after a brief and sudden illness. She was 94.

Joan was born in Pennsylvania in 1931, an only child to Maurice and Regina Margolis, and was largely raised by her beloved mother after her parents divorced when Joan was a pre-teen. She described her youth as being surrounded by family, as her mother was one of 11 children, so there were numerous aunts and uncles and cousins and second cousins with whom to interact, and she kept up relationships with many of them for her entire life. She fondly recalled listening to Pittsburgh Pirates games on the radio with her mother during the summer months.

Her roots to Pittsburgh were strong, and she remained attached to Pittsburgh emotionally, but stronger was the pull to move west in her early 20s, unusual for a single woman of that era, and try and make a career of it in Los Angeles. At her first job, at an insurance agency, she met Irving Privman, whom she wed in 1958 and to whom she remained married until his passing in 2011. They had two children, son Jay (wife Anne), and daughter Susan (husband Adam Goldstein). They lived in Los Angeles, then the San Fernando Valley area of LA, and after Irving’s retirement from the investment community moved to Summerlin in Las Vegas. She left the work force to raise her children, but returned to work when her children reached their teens.

She and Irving traveled the world, as travel was a passion for both. Joan enjoyed reading, Jeopardy, and crossword puzzles. She only had a high-school education, but she was not uneducated. After Irving’s passing, Joan lived for nearly 15 years, navigating the emotional ups and downs of being a widow but finding joy in her maj jongg friends in Summerlin, life-long friends in the San Fernando Valley, and visits from Susan and Adam’s son, Ari.

In the fall of 2024, she entered a new chapter by moving to Morningstar Senior Living at the Canyons, where she found an instant group of new friends with whom she bonded; she called them her second family.

Joan followed Jewish customs on the High Holy Days and at Passover, and was a regular attendee at temple on those occasions until she advanced in age. And though she couldn’t travel as far nor wide in recent years, she did go to San Diego in recent years for racing at Del Mar. And in the summer of 2025 she traveled to San Diego for a family reunion of members from Irving’s side of the family. She bonded readily with many of the youngest members of that group, and one young girl, Andi Huynh, became a regular pen pal.

Joan is survived by her children and their spouses, grandson Ari, step-grandchildren Stephanie (Ryan Kresta) and Emily (Freddie Hughes), and step-greatgrandchildren Heidi, Wells, Cami, Serena, and Melody Kresta, and Henry, Anna, and John Hughes.

Her funeral service is to be held Friday, May 8, at 10:30 am at Kraft-Sussman Funeral Services, 3975 S. Durango Dr., Suite 104, Las Vegas, with burial to follow immediately at noon at Bunkers Memory Gardens Cemetery, 7251 W. Lone Mountain Rd., Las Vegas.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the caring, amazing people at Nathan Adelson Hospice, 4141 University Center Drive, Las Vegas, NV., 89119. They provided great solace and comfort to Joan in her final days, as they did to Irving 15 years ago.