Joan Webenbauer

Joan died peacefully at her daughter's home in San Jose on Friday, August 23, 2019 surrounded by loving family and friends. Her health had declined over the past few years from Lewy Body Dementia.

Joan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, by her parents, Fred & Marion Jager, along with her older brother Fred. She attended Brooklyn College for two years and then worked as an executive secretary in Manhattan. Joan married the love of her life, Tom Webenbauer, in 1958 and they moved to Massapequa on Long Island to raise their 4 young children. In 1974 Tom & Joan moved the family to Morgan Hill or as they called it, "God's Country". Joan began working as the secretary for the Morgan Hill Fire Department at its brand new (and only) station located on Old Monterey Road; retiring in June of 1993.

Joan had a passion for life and was always "on the go". She loved sports, playing golf, tennis, bowling and ping-pong and watching her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers as a girl and later the SF Giants. Joan Enjoyed playing board games, card games (bridge), gardening, dancing, garage sales, traveling, reading, journaling, family picnics and hosting get-togethers.

Joan was a member of many clubs throughout the years in Morgan Hill. The MH Flower Lovers, Gavilan Niners Ladies Golf Club, Women in Touch and the exercise group at the Mormon Church were a few of the groups in which she participated. Joan was a member of the Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church for all 45 years that she lived in Morgan Hill. Through the years, she taught Sunday school, helped with the nursery, was a deacon and, with her husband, helped found the OWLS (Older and Wiser in the Lord) group for Seniors. She attended church regularly and considered the members of the church as her second family.

Joan wouldn't leave the house without her hair done and dressed stylishly (the New Yorker in her!). She always had a smile for you. She would always tell us (her kids) to "have a nice day…. make it a better day for somebody else" when we left the house. This was something she never stopped saying to us till her last days.

Joan was widowed in 2011 when her husband of 53 years passed. She was the proud and loving mother of Douglas (Cindy), Christine (John Mittlestead), Karen Minteer and Steven. She was grandmother to nine children. They will all miss her very much as she was part of their daily lives.

There will be a celebration of her life on Saturday, September 7, 2019, at 2:00 P.M. at the Morgan Hill Presbyterian Church, 16970 DeWitt Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA.

Published in Morgan Hill Times · September 5, 2019