Joan Marie Gustafson was born in North Dakota on Dec. 29, 1934, to Herbert and Marie (Anderson) Gustafson, and then raised in Great Falls. She was a graduate of Northwestern University and Great Falls High School.
Joan met her husband while at Northwestern and lived in the Chicago area for almost 40 years before moving to Whitefish in 1990, where she had lived since.
Joan was a schoolteacher and taught in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Wilmette and Northbrook, Illinois. She retired from teaching early to raise her children, but found time for volunteer work including teaching Junior Great Books and serving the Children’s Home and Aid Society of Illinois for 40 years, culminating in her being president of the Sponsor Parent executive board. Joan also helped raise money for her church as well as for the Whitefish Community Library.
For fun, Joan learned to curl at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois, and curled with some of the nation’s top women curlers. In 1987, she was chairwoman for the host committee for the first Women’s World Curling Championships hosted in the United States, at Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois.
For almost 30 years, before moving to Montana, Joan enjoyed spending time with family and friends at her family’s lake cottage at Pelican Lake in western Minnesota.
After moving to Whitefish and following her passion for reading, Joan began writing book reviews, which have appeared in various local publications until finally settling in as the book reviewer for the Whitefish Community Library.
In 2008, Joan published “Books Worth a Look!,” a compilation of over 200 of her book reviews. In total, she wrote almost 500 book reviews.
For the past year, Joan had been living at The Springs of Whitefish, where she met many new friends.
Joan’s first passion and priority was always her family. She is survived by her husband of 60 years, Lawrence Smith, and her son, Stephen Smith. Other close family members include her sister Diane Schwartz and brother in-law Richard Schwartz; her niece Kristen Pulsifer, Kristen’s husband Nathanial and their two daughters, Maggie and Anna; her nephew Michael Schwartz and his son, Philip.
Joan’s other son, Philip, preceded her in death.
Services will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 9, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, located on Conn Road just off Highway 40 between Columbia Falls and Whitefish. A reception will be held afterwards, the location to be announced.
Her family requests that donations in memoriam be made to the Whitefish Community Library, 9 Spokane Avenue, Whitefish, MT 59937.
To send a note of condolence to the family please visit www.buffalohillfh.com . Buffalo Hill Funeral Home is caring for the family