Joan Elaine Robertson was born June 26, 1942, to Helen Taylor Robertson and Carl Mason (Penny) Robertson in Oroville, CA., where she grew up. She passed away on March 9, 2023, living in Lake Havasu City, AZ.
Joan graduated from Oroville Union High School in June 1960. She put off college for a year and went to work for the Butte County Juvenile Probation Office, where her mother, Helen May, had worked for many years, before moving to Winnemucca, NV in 1959.
In 1961, Joan enrolled at Chico State College, Chico, CA. She loved college, most particularly the parties. After successfully completing her freshman year, she decided to move to Winnemucca to join her family.
In Winnemucca, she had various jobs until she tested for positions with the State of Nevada. She was hired and, over the years, worked for many different departments within State.
In 1963, she married Pete Graham, who was from a small town in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Pete was in the USAF, stationed in Winnemucca at the Air Defense Command.
In 1965, Joan gave birth to a beautiful daughter, Ginger Gail Graham. A few years later, she met and married Arlie Eaton. After their marriage, Arlie adopted Ginger; he had fallen in love with her, too.
When Arlie’s job in Winnemucca was completed, Joan sold her home and the family moved to Fernley, Nevada. After living there for a few years and commuting to jobs in Sparks and Reno, they decided to move to Sparks. After Ginger graduated from high school, Joan moved to Carson City.
Upon retiring, Joan moved back to Oroville, the hometown she adored. Moving back was always her heart’s desire. During the years she’d been away from Oroville, she traveled there at every opportunity. She maintained many high school friendships and returned for every class reunion. She even attended class reunions with classmates from years before and after her graduation. She helped organize many of the reunions, including the 2006 All Class Reunion, all of which brought her great joy. She was an active member of the Eastern Star, both in Winnemucca and Oroville, the Butte County Veteran’s Memorial Committee, Daughters of the Nile, and the Oroville Piecemakers Quilt Guild.
Joan’s friends, old and new, were very important to her. She loved meeting for breakfast or lunch and visiting with them. Many had helped her get to her doctor appointments in Sacramento at UC Davis, as well as helping her at her home. She regularly attended monthly Cousin dinners with her sisters and the Stringfellow girls, Vicki and Don Silva, Debbie and Howard German and Terry Cox.
Joan was predeceased by her father, Carl Mason (Penny) Robertson, who was killed in action on December 9, 1944, during WWII in France, stepfather, Joseph (Joe) Patrick May (1964), mother, Helen May (1999), grandnephew, Freddy Wiechers (1999), nephew, Dustin Uriguen (2016), Donald Lee Rose in (2020).
She is survived by her daughter, Ginger Anderson and her husband, Dan, grandsons, Mark and wife, Alyse, and Stephen Anderson, Las Vegas, NV, sisters, Jan Robertson and husband, Bill Pliler, Oroville, CA, Carolyn Rose, Sparks, NV, nieces, Julie Mabry Wiechers, Reno, NV, Jana Mabry, Carson City, NV, Charmaane Buehrle, Reno, NV, Jan Hobbs and husband Brian, Los Molinos, CA, nephews, Jeffrey Mabry, Dayton, NV, Scott Pliler and wife Tracy, Montgomery, NY, Tony Uriguen and wife Billie, Fruita, CO, Jeff Rose, Reno, NV and many grand and great nieces, nephews and cousins.
All her family and friends will miss her. A celebration of life will be held in Oroville, date to be determined.