Joan Thomas

Joan Thomas August 30, 1933 - April 12, 2021 August 30, 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression Joan was born in Youngstown, Ohio. The daughter of Howell and Margaret (Pratt) Thomas, Joan and her family struggled along with the rest of the country just to gather the basics. These early experiences shaped Joan into a compassionate and fiercely independent women who loved literature, art, classical music and travel. Coming into her own in the 1950’s Joan was inspired by workers rights and the Beat movement of Kerouac and Ginsberg. This theme would continue throughout Joan’s life as a champion for the working class and those less fortunate. Joan would execute a u-turn across multiple lanes of traffic to give a person in need a dollar. Joan would spend much of her young life in Mexico, living in many different areas. She was a student of Mexican pottery, and textiles that would influence her painting style in later years. Joan lived and worked much of the later half of her life in San Fransisco, CA loving the open and artistic feel of the City by the Bay. She would work for many years and retire from the San Fransisco Department of Transportation. Joan met Annie Kay late in life, and they moved to New Mexico. The scenery, light and people of New Mexico influenced Joan's painting over the last 20 years, and her house was filled with canvases. Joan insisted on living life in her own way, and after Annie passed in 2015 Joan continued to live on her own with her beloved dogs Siler, and Asa in Edgewood, NM. Recently Joan moved to the Beehive Assisted Living facility, where she continued to live life as she always had, by her own rules. Joan brought life, love and happiness to all that knew her with a generosity of spirit and sense of joy. Joan passed from this life Monday April 12, 2021 and will be remembered by her friends and all fortunate enough to have known her.