Joan (March 31, 1930-September 5, 2022) was born in Trinidad, Colorado. Her parents were Mabel and Clyde Roper and Edgar was her big brother. There were five years between her and Edgar and they weren’t very close growing up.

Her early years were spent in Trinidad. She had lots of cousins to play with there, Buddy and Ruth Ann Roper and Claudia and Norton Lee. Her grandmother, Minnie lived there who she loved very much. Her aunt and uncle Blanche and Roy Bratcher lived there too. She went by Jo Jo in her younger days and Roy called her Joker.  Her dad worked as a traveling salesman for Nebraska Salesbook Company, and she wrote him lots of funny letters. Here’s one note she wrote to her mom.

They moved several times during her elementary school years – to Council Bluffs, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska; Houston, Texas; Denver, and then finally to Albuquerque when she was a young teenager. The moves were hard for her as she was shy, but she finished junior high and high school in Albuquerque and had a lot of friends there. She put out a newspaper while she was at Jefferson Jr. High called the Roper Gazoon. It was filled with all the latest gossip on who liked who, and such tidbits as “Guess who was seen talking to…”, and other junior high topics of interest. She was in the Rodeo Club at Albuquerque High School with her good friend, Barbara Woodford.

Rodeo Club at Albuquerque High School. Joan is in the lower middle, with a dark jacket and white shirt. Barbara Woodford is two behind her with a light brown jacket and a horse with a white blaze on his face.

Joan on the cover of the APS Journal. She was the rodeo queen of the rodeo club

After high school, Joan married Joe Browne, Jr. in Albuquerque, and in 1949 had a daughter, Colleen. Cathleen (Suky) came next in 1950, followed by Joe (Buddy) in 1952 and Steve in 1954.

Suky, Joan, Colleen about 1951

Buddy, Joan, Steve, Colleen, Suky

Steve, Suky, Buddy, Joan, Joe at 6700 Mossman, NE, Albuquerque around 1959

Joan and Joe divorced around 1961, and the next few years she worked at KOAT TV , and then Kirtland Air Force Base as a secretary. She was close to her parents and they helped her and the kids in so many ways.

She married Luther Edward Allen in 1966 and moved to Peralta, New Mexico. She loved living in the country and loved her house there.

Her third child, Buddy, died in 1970. That was a devastating loss for her and the family.

All her life, Joan was a huge animal lover. She had a donkey, Sadie, and many dogs, cats, chickens, sheep, horses and cows. The grandkids and great grandkids loved visiting her.

Ann, Ruthie and Joan

She also loved gardening and working in her yard and was a big reader until her eyesight failed. She enjoyed doing crafts, and worked on knitting, wood carving, sewing and basket making. Her last two dogs were Ruthie and Gracie. Luther (Ed) died in 2005 and she was able to stay in her house with the help of her son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Jenney; step-daughter, Joy and friend, Carole until she broke her leg in 2021. She never quite got better and died in 2022.

Joan

mother

grandmother

great grandmother