Obituary: Joan Wilson

Joan Wilson, of Longboat Key and formerly of Des Moines, Iowa, died May 7.

Born June 12, 1936, in Des Moines, she attended Monticello Women’s College, in St. Louis, and the University of Iowa, where she majored in English.

She met and married Frederick Wilson in 1956 and had two sons, Joseph and David.

After two years of military life, the couple lived and worked in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Canada.
Mrs. Wilson’s international experience included serving as editor of an expatriate newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, and the startup and development of an English as a second language program at the International School in Jakarta, Indonesia. During that time, she attended a master’s program on international education at Michigan State University provided through the Jakarta International School.

Mrs. Wilson received special recognition from the university for papers she wrote on Third World children.
A service will take place Thursday, May 16, in Des Moines.