Joan Kimball Lowry

Joan Kimball Lowry was born March 22, 1939 to Rose Kirkham Kimball and Don Carlos Clark Kimball in Honolulu, Hawaii. A few months before her third birthday, she experienced the bombing of Pearl Harbor. A few months later she was evacuated from Hawaii with her mother and baby brother, Don. After several weeks at sea, they arrived in San Francisco where her Uncle Czar Kirkham met them and brought them into his home for a short time. Her father, Don, however, had been commissioned as an officer in the Army and was stationed at Fort Shafter, north of Honolulu. After a few weeks, Joan’s mother moved her little family to Salt Lake City to live with her father, Francis W Kirkham.

Joan did not see her father for three years until he came home in the Spring of 1945 suffering from Dengue fever. With the end of the war and her father back home, Joan began again to experience the love and joy of a happy home.

Because Joan was a gifted student in elementary school, one year she was double promoted; therefore, she graduated from El Camino High School in Sacramento, CA in 1956 at age 17.

In Junior High, her father took her to a concert with 7 harpists, and from then on, she began asking for a harp. Her father purchased a used harp, and Joan began the journey of becoming a harpist. Joan took the harp with her to BYU.

That same summer, her father’s employment with the Boy Scouts of American took him and his family to Camp New Fork located north of Rock Springs, Wyoming. They lived in a primitive cabin for a month. After camp closed, they found a new home in Rock Springs, Wyoming. For several summers Joan would return home from BYU and serve on the camp staff for her father as Quartermaster, preparing the menus and distributing the food supplies to the many scouts. With her musical talents, she composed the song, “New Fork Charlie” which became a real hit among the scouts, and is still sung today at Camp New Fork.

At BYU, Joan was very busy studying in the field of Home Economics. She also took time to join the Kia Ora Club where she learned songs, dance, and traditions of the Māori’s of New Zealand. Joan graduated from BYU with her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Home Economics, and she was hired to teach Home Economics classes at BYU.

At the end of the year, Joan decided to take a position teaching at Athens, Ohio. However, her experience there was not as fulfilling as she had hoped, so at the end of her contract, she returned home, which at this time was Flagstaff, AZ.

In Flagstaff, while working for the United States Geological Survey, Joan became interested in a coworker, Wayne Allen Lowry, a widower with three young children, Jean, Mark and Curtis. Wayne went by the nickname, Bud. Bud was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, so Joan and ward members began teaching the gospel to Bud and his family. Bud and his older children were baptized. A year later, on October 22, 1965, Joan and Bud were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

Joan and Bud lived in East Flagstaff for a few years, then moved to San Jose, California where they lived for many years. In San Jose, Joan gave birth to their son, Gavin. Joan loved her family. It was her deep desire to create a loving, gospel-oriented home. She was active in the Relief Society. She also enjoyed serving as a gospel doctrine instructor.

Joan enjoyed traveling with Bud as he would fly a small plane to various destinations around the state. After retiring, Bud and Joan moved to Phoenix, AZ., where they enjoyed working in their backyard with the companionship of their German Shepherds.

As Joan and Bud aged together, Jean and her daughter Michelle, and granddaughter, Portia, became a blessing to them as they regularly visited them. Joan’s sister, Martha, also visited often from Flagstaff and assumed the role of Joan’s beautician.

A few years ago, it became apparent that Joan needed extra care due to her several falls. She began living in a care facility where Bud visited her often. In December of 2023, her husband, Bud, passed away. Joan missed him dearly. The first week of April, 2025, Joan began to decline rapidly. She passed away in the early hours of April 10th. The family wishes to express gratitude for the care and attention she received from the staff at Hacienda del Rey.

A visitation for Joan will be held Monday, April 28, 2025 at 9:00 AM at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 425 Estrella Pkwy, Goodyear, Arizona 85338, followed by a funeral service at 10:00 AM.