Joan Johnson, 88, of Aberdeen, was born Joan Audry Newman on Oct. 15, 1931, in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended college and nursing school at Washington University in St. Louis before moving to Seattle in 1954 to pursue a masters degree in nursing at the University of Washington. She married Merryl Johnson of Aberdeen in 1967, and moved to Aberdeen in 1969, where she worked for St. Joseph Hospital in Aberdeen for 30 years before transferring to Community Hospital in Aberdeen, where she retired in 1996.

“Devoted mother” is an oft-used term in obituaries but her family could not find a better word to describe her life-long, selfless dedication to her two sons, Erik Johnson, of Chicago, Illinois, and Gabe Johnson of Seattle, Washington. She will be deeply missed by those who knew her as a gentle soul and selfless friend. In lieu of remembrances, the family requests that those who knew her take time to reach out to someone important to them and say as much. The time to love is short.

A gathering to remember Joan will be held at Mount Olympus Brewing in Aberdeen at 1 p.m. on July 20.