Joan (nee Loken) Malin, of Janesville, WI passed away peacefully in her sleep on September 7, 2022. A passionate supporter of the arts in the community dating back to the Janesville Concert Association, and through the establishment of JPAC, Joan loved to attend all kinds of performances. As a skilled pianist from a young age, Joan accompanied many young musicians, including her two children for Solo & Ensemble. She was a member of the Cargill UMC Choir and was a dedicated supporter of the MacDowell Music Club.
Joan was born in Adams, WI in 1935 to Alfred “Bud” Hoël Loken and Marvel (Koppen) Loken. Joan’s mother passed away when she was 8 and her father remarried. Her father was the principal of Adams-Friendship high school and her step-mother (Maxine Hagen Loken) taught at the high school as well. Around the age of 13, Joan and Jack Malin became an “item” and their life-long love began to form. During their high-school years, Joan and Jack were crowned homecoming and prom queen and king and attended all the dances together. They were inseparable. They both graduated from Adams-Friendship High in 1953 and Joan went on to graduate from UW-Madison to become a business education teacher, starting her career in Viroqua. She eventually married the love of her life in June 1958, and they moved to Janesville in 1960. Together with their two kids, Jeff (Pam) and Sara Everts (Gregg) and four grandkids (Jessica, Jarod, Loken and Evan) they enjoyed many annual trips to Door County and Eagle River, to “escape” from everyday life.
Joan left the workforce to raise her family in the mid 60’s but returned to serve as an employment and training specialist helping retrain dislocated workers in the 80’s and 90s. And, Joan always felt it important to volunteer and support the organizations she believed in. She was a life member of the Friends of the Hedberg Library, the YWCA, the UW-Madison Alumni Association, the Adams County Historical Society and many others. Joan and Jack were regular attendees at their AFHS reunions and maintained wonderful friendships with their classmates through the years, helping to organize a special 50 year reunion.
Her sense of humor and quick wit will be missed by family and friends, especially her childhood sweetheart and loving husband Jack. Memorials in her honor can be made to the MacDowell Music Club Scholarship Fund or the Cargill United Methodist Church Choir.
A celebration of life service was held on October 1st in Janesville, WI. Joan’s final resting place is back home, at Mt. Repose Cemetery in Friendship, WI.
The family extends their gratitude to her caregivers (Cedar Crest and Agrace Hospice in Janesville) during her final days.