Joan Sleeper Bandeen—nurse, homemaker, poodle enthusiast, and dedicated church member—passed away the morning of October 10. She was able to remain in her home until her last day, apparently succumbing to a cardiac arrest. She was 92 years old.
Joan was born in Washington, DC on February 10, 1929, the elder daughter of an insurance executive and his wife. She excelled in school, ultimately graduating as valedictorian of the Holton-Arms School class of 1946. Early on she found a passion for nursing, ignited by service as a World War II Junior Army Navy Guild Organization (JANGO) health aide beginning at the age of 13. She went on to earn a combined BS/RN from Hood College and the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1951.
Joan relished her career in nursing, beginning with a short stay at Garfield Hospital before moving on to the Walter Reed Medical Center for the 1951-1953 remainder of the Korean War. Thereafter she served at the National Institutes of Health until 1960. Joan related many meaningful experiences through these years, including to accompany injured servicemen and cancer patients in their final hours of life. She assisted with care in fascinating cases at the NIH, including a conjoined twin separation and other advanced neurological surgeries.
Joan married William (“Bill”) Bandeen, a NASA scientist and reserve Army captain, in 1960. A homemaker thereafter, she raised two sons and a daughter in the ensuing years largely in Brinklow, Maryland. She created a loving, nurturing, and supportive home for her children, encouraging their academic success and providing for happy experiences throughout. Among her highest passions during these years was a love of animals: numerous bird feeders always were maintained in the yard, and pets included a succession of 12 poodles, three ponies, two cats, and sundry chameleons, snakes, turtles, rabbits and fish. She was an informal breeder and dog show enthusiast, with the dogs ultimately earning numerous obedience titles. Her “Bandit” won the pinnacle title of Utility Dog. During the 1990s and 2000s she co-led a poodle rescue leading to the saving of numerous dogs.
Joan’s Christian faith was a pillar for her. She was raised Episcopalian and spent 10 years as a practicing Catholic before embracing the Seventh-day Adventist faith from 1957 to the end of her life. As her children were growing, she served as Sabbath School teacher, led in fund raising campaigns, and contributed to many Vacation Bible Schools. Both she and Bill were longtime supporters of Spencerville Adventist Academy in Burtonsville, Maryland.
Bill passed away in 2004: Joan spent her remaining years living quietly at home, supported by her children. Though beset by arthritis and consequently mobility-limited, she enjoyed essentially good health until the last year of her life. Even then she remained at home, lucid and enjoying historical videos and the occasional bridge game with her children until the day before her passing. Her children feel fortunate to have had this wonderful woman as their mother, and they will miss her dearly.
Joan is survived by her children Kevin and Julie Bandeen, Keith Bandeen, and Karen Bandeen-Roche and Bill Roche; two grandchildren, Mary and Preston Busha; and nieces DeVoe Campbell, Rosanne Toll and Lorelei Novak, and nephews Bob and Reid Bandeen. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Bill; her sister, Jacqueline; and her nephew, Paul Novak.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18