Joan Rayburn Ramirez

Joan Rayburn Ramirez, was born on November 6th, 1927 in Riverside, CA and grew up in Hollywood as the second daughter of Gordon and Lucele Rayburn. Joan was only 15 months younger than her sister, Marillyn, and due to skipping a semester they were only a semester apart. They were best friends for their entire life having both raised their families in Southern California. They vacationed and spent all the holidays together. They were inseparable throughout their lives.

Despite living during the Depression and WWII, Joan and Marillyn shared a happy childhood together. They both acquired a love for music from their Aunt Francis which led to a love of opera and Broadway musicals. She would play the piano and they would sing for hours. She taught them to how to harmonize while singing, “When at Night I Go to Sleep,” Joan’s favorite song. It is the prayer hymn from the opera Hansel and Gretel. They would sing it in harmony before they went to sleep each night. The Metropolitan Opera performed at the Shrine Auditorium across the street from the USC campus where Joan was attending college. As Joan could not afford to attend the opera regularly, she devised a way to do so by signing up herself, her future husband, Louis, and her sister to be “supers” in the Metropolitan Opera (similar to being an “extra” in the movie business). As a result, they were able participate in and see many operas.

She met the love of her life, Louis Julian Ramirez III at Hollywood High School in 1943. Theirs was a romance and union that spanned 76 years of which they were married for 67 years before Lou’s passing in 2020. Their lifetime spent together was only interrupted by Lou’s service in WWII. They had three children: Linda (1954), Louis Julian Ramirez IV (1956) and Richard (1959). Family was the foundation of Joan’s life and she devoted herself to her children/grandchildren and their many activities growing up.

Another of Joan’s passions was travel. She saved up her money and took a three-month European trip in 1949 which after the war was not a common travel occurrence. She traveled cross-country by train to NYC with outbound stops in New Orleans, Washington DC and through Chicago on her return. She took the RMS Queen Mary from NYC to England where she disembarked on a nine-country tour ending in Italy. It was a trip of a lifetime that she often shared the experience with her children. Upon returning she worked for Pacific Telephone.

Joan will be remembered by friends and family as being one of the nicest people they have known in their lives. She was caring, fun-loving, adventurous, possessed a great sense of humor and was a above all positive in that she seldom complained about anything or anybody. Her loves included music, travel, Hawaii, camping at the beach, boogie boarding, Disneyland, astronomy, and family gatherings.

Joan is survived by her sister Marillyn, her three children and their spouses: Linda/Steve Furniss, Louis/Marsha Ramirez, Richard/Teresa Ramirez, her six grandchildren and spouses: Kristina/Tyler Stonebreaker, Matthew/Kim Furniss, Kristi Ramirez, Louis Ramirez V, Luke, and Evan Ramirez, four great-grandchildren: Steven and Estelle Stonebreaker, Katie and Grant Furniss.

A funeral service for Joan will be held Saturday, February 4, 2023, at 10:00 am at Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Corona Del Mar, California 92625. A graveside service shall follow the celebration of life.

Please join the family for a reception on premises immediately following the service in the Pacific View Legacy Room.