Joan Wooliver

Nov 19, 1930 -

Sep 2, 2026

Joan Wooliver passed away on Sept. 2, 2026. She was born to Herbert "Bobby" and Dorothy Graham Brown in Kaslo, B.C., Canada. Joan was raised on the shores of Kootenay Lake at Walker's Landing.

She attended high school in Spokane, Wash., then Central Washington University. Following graduation, Joan moved to Seattle, Wash., where she worked for Alaska Airlines.

Looking for adventure, Joan transferred with Alaska Airlines to Anchorage, Alaska, in March 1955.

She lived in the old Inlet Towers with two friends from school who were instrumental in luring her North. She met her future husband, George Wooliver, on her first day at the ticket counter!

Joan and George were married in June 1956, and they decided to settle down in Anchorage to raise their family.

Joan was an active and involved member of the community, working with the League of Women Voters, the Spruce Hens, St. John United Methodist Church as well as being a 4-H leader.

Later in life she volunteered at the Anchorage Senior Center in the quilting room.

Joan loved crafts of all types and ran a mail-order craft business out of her home for more than 20 years. She was an avid quilter and made over 700 quilts – mostly for children – that she donated to local shelters so that families would have something warm and cozy of their own when moving into more permanent housing.

Joan was a lifelong learner and took a keen interest in the world around her. She loved to travel, and she and George enjoyed many trips all over the world. They also traveled closer to home, motor homing throughout the West and Southwest.

Joan was always cheerful, positive and full of boundless energy– the sort of person whose cup was not half full, but rather overflowing. She was a keeper of family and local stories and a true matriarch. She will be greatly missed.

If people would like to make a donation to Friends of Pets, Heifer or another charity of their choosing in Joan's honor, it would be greatly appreciated.

Joan is survived by her sister, Brenda Dau of Richland, Wash.; three children, Steve (Suzy), Doug (Lin Heiser) and Jane (Dave McVeigh); five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.