L. Joan Sample Smith
July 2, 1937 ~ March 29, 2024
L. Joan Sample Smith, 86, Minneapolis, died Friday, March 29, 2024. Ms. Smith was born July 2, 1937, in Ottawa County to Clyde and Avis Sample.
A life-long nurse, Joan was also an avid dancer who loved to travel. After graduating from Minneapolis High School in 1955, Joan attended Fort Hays State University and graduated with an associate degree in nursing. In the intervening years, Joan lived and practiced in Chicago, Colorado, and Kansas. She returned home to Minneapolis in 2002 to care for, travel with, and attend local dances with her father.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Avis in 1996 and Clyde in 2007.
Survivors are her two daughters, Rhonda Olson of Orlando, Florida; and Shanna Due and husband Jonathan of Williamsburg, Virginia; and three grandchildren, Orin Olson, John Clyde Due and Samantha Lee Due.
The family will receive friends on Friday, April 5 from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. at Wilson Family Funeral Home, Minneapolis. Private burial will be in Highland Cemetery, Minneapolis. The family kindly requests no flowers and ask that memorials be made to the Golden Wheel Senior Center and may be left in care of Wilson Family Funeral Home, P.O. Box 166, Minneapolis, KS 67467.
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