Joanne Feist Obituary

Joanne Beal Feist died October 31, 2022, in Lawrence from complications due to metastasized breast cancer. She was 85. Joanne was born in Lawrence on November 28, 1936, the daughter of Alice and George Beal. She attended Lawrence schools and graduated from Lawrence High School with a scholarship to the University of Kansas.

Joanne loved her life at KU, the studies, the classes and most of all, the friends at the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She became a lifelong supporter of the sorority and eventually served as a regional and national officer.

Joanne graduated with a bachelor's degree in History and married John Feist, also of Lawrence. The couple lived at Stanford University in California and then in Hutchinson for a time. They moved to Piedmont, Calif., where they raised their sons, Paul Wilson Feist, and John "Jack" Andrew Feist. While in Piedmont Joanne was a member of the board of directors of the Women's Athletic Club of Oakland and served as a docent at the Oakland Museum of California. She also earned her master's degree in business administration from Golden Gate University, and she worked managing the office of a legal firm.

But Joanne missed her hometown, and she moved back to Lawrence in 1993. She immediately jumped into an active social life, joining the University of Kansas women's group, Friends in Council. She continued her work with the Theta sorority and was very involved with Trinity Episcopal Church. She was also a member of the local chapter of PEO.

Joanne loved her community and right up until her illness attended KU basketball games. With both sons out west, she visited California twice a year, spending the Christmas and summer holidays with family. She was so proud of her granddaughter Jessica, a dentist in Ireland, and her grandson Blake, an architect.

Joanne is preceded in death by her parents. She is survived by her sons, Paul Wilson Feist, of Stockton, Calif., and Jack Feist, of Atascadero, Calif., her grandchildren Jessica Feist, of Belfast, Ireland, and Blake Feist, of Stockton, Calif., and daughter-in-law Dianne Barth-Feist, also of Stockton. She is also survived by her cousin, Geraldine Vaughan, and numerous cousins in the Kansas City area.

The family would like to especially thank her neighbors and friends and her health care providers at Lawrence Memorial Hospital for the wonderful care she received over the course of her illness.

A celebration of Joanne's life will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, 2022 at Trinity Episcopal Church in Lawrence.

For more information or to post a condolence go to warrenmcelwain.com.