Joan Gans

Joan Elizabeth (Frey) Gans, 73, passed from this life on Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at her home in Denver, Colorado.  She is survived by her husband of 49 years, David, her son Nicholas, his wife Holly, and their two children, Cora and Henry, of Plano, Texas.  Joan was preceded in death by her father, Raphael Frey, and her mother, Emily.

Joan was born in Chicago, Illinois on October 13, 1947.  She graduated from William Howard Taft High School in 1965 and enrolled in the Loyola University School of Nursing.  The economic hardship caused by untimely death of her father from cancer in 1967 prompted Joan to accept a U.S. Army nursing scholarship, and on her graduation in May 1969, Joan was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps.

Joan met her husband, David, at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, and they were married at the post chapel on January 15, 1972. Joan’s most notable memory of the wedding was discovering that there were no plans for someone to pick her up for the ceremony and driving herself and her mother to the chapel, arriving just in time to walk down the aisle.

As an Army community health nurse, Joan educated expectant mothers and conducted many newborn home health visits.  While visiting a family in 1972, Joan heard a cry that a young boy was floating in the apartment pool.  Joan rescued the boy and resuscitated him before the paramedics arrived. The Army recognized her lifesaving, awarding her the Army Commendation Medal.

In 1973, Joan and David were reassigned to Nurnberg, Germany, where she served at the 130th General Hospital. A chance encounter with an Armed Forces Radio announcer led her to develop a weekly three-minute health information announcement that was broadcast every Monday to the 50,000 service members and their families in Northern Bavaria.  Often, when meeting a stranger, she was told that they did not recognize her, but her voice was very familiar.  The most significant event of living in Nurnberg was the birth of her son, Nicholas, on January 19, 1976.

Joan and David returned to the U.S. in May 1976 and were reassigned to Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center.  Living in Denver, they decided to make Colorado their home.  Joan left the Army in the grade of Major in 1982, with her service recognized with the Army Meritorious Service Medal.

Joan continued her nursing career with the Colorado Department of Public Health, the Hospice of Peace, and Denver Health until she was diagnosed with cancer in 1995. A regime of chemotherapy and radiation therapy eliminated the cancer but resulted is significant side effects that caused her to be medically retired and eventually unable to walk. Even with her disability, Joan made extreme efforts to continue to travel to visit friends and family in Texas and to spend as much time as possible in Hawaii, where she especially loved looking out at the Pacific Ocean from a seaside condo on Poipu Beach, Kauai.

Joan entered home hospice in April 2021 and was extremely pleased with the excellent, personalized care she received from the Advanced Home Care & Hospice of Aurora, which let her enjoy the end of life in the best way she could.  August 17th was a quiet day with visits from her hospice nurses and an evening with her family present when she departed this life without pain or difficulty.

In addition to her Bachelors of Nursing degree, Joan received a Master’s in Education degree from the University of Southern California (earned while in Germany at the university’s European extension) and a Master’s of Public Administration Degree from the University of Colorado at Denver.

Joan was an active volunteer serving on the board of the Colorado Lung Association and was a long-term supporter of the Center for Contemplative Prayer and the Sisters of Benet Hill Monastery. She was an active member of St. James Catholic Church for 45 years. Her natural artistic talents lead to many interests and hobbies over the years, including ceramics, doll making, weaving, singing in the church choir, and playing the Irish harp.  She also greatly enjoyed reading mystery novels and watching Bollywood films.

She will be remembered for her smile and cheerful spirit, bringing joy to everyone she met.

An informal visitation will be held from 5:00pm – 7:00pm on Thursday, September 9th, at the Horan and McConaty Funeral Home located at 11150 East Dartmouth Avenue (at Parker Road), Aurora, Colorado 80014.  A funeral mass will be held at 10:00am on Friday, September 10th at St. James Catholic Church, 1311 Oneida St. Denver, CO 80220. Following the service, the family will host a reception in the parish hall to give family and friends the opportunity to reminisce how Joan impacted their lives.  Interment will be at Ft. Logan National Cemetery (staging area C) at 10:15 on Monday, September 13, 2021.

Donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or the USO.

https://donate3.cancer.org/

https://secure.uso.org/