Joan Mae Bartels

A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Callahan-Edfast Mortuary Chapel in Grand Junction.

Ms. Bartels was a teacher.

She is survived by three sons, Clint of Rifle, Mark of Cabot, Arkansas, and Scott of Las Vegas, Nevada; a daughter Krista D’Angelo of Portland, Oregon; a brother Byron Fehlman of Boise, Idaho; and 11 grandchildren.

Joan Mae Bartels

1929-2015

Joan Mae Bartels of Rifle, Colorado passed away December 27th, 2015 at the age of 86. She was born to Martha and Byron Fehlman, October 16,

1929, in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Joan attended High School in Cody, Wyoming and worked in local tourist shops, her parents’ hotel and as a telephone operator. She was stricken with polio and spent her senior year of high school in the hospital. With much perseverance, Joan graduated valedictorian of her class.

She began her college education in Fort Collins, Colorado where she met and married Dean Bartels on October 28th 1948. Joan completed a teaching endorsement from Northern State College in Aberdeen, South Dakota and taught at Whitlock Crossing School grades one through eight. Joan’s career took a new direction when the family moved to a ranch in Montana where she helped manage the ranch while raising four children. As part of her husband’s banking career they lived in Miller, South Dakota; Fort Morgan, Colorado; and Worland, Wyoming.

Much of Joan’s time was dedicated to service in the Lutheran Church. She taught Sunday school, was a member of the women’s missionary league, attended weekly bible studies and helped with church functions. One of Joan’s passions was baking delicious cinnamon rolls, cookies, breads and meals for social gatherings, people in need and her family. She enjoyed oil painting, golf, crossword puzzles, scrabble and sewing. Joan was also an avid reader and compiled two cookbooks with her mother. Most importantly, Joan will always be remembered for her kind-heartedness, remarkable determination, and her quiet but affluent intellectual influence.

Survivors include her brother Byron (Suzann) of Boise, Idaho; her children: Mark (Liz) Bartels of Cabot, Arkansas; Scott (Patty) Bartels of Las Vegas, Nevada; Krista (Franco) D’Angelo of Maui, Hawaii; Clint (Jennifer) Bartels of Rifle, Colorado; 11 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Dean who passed away in 1996.

Services will be held January 16, 2016 at 1:00 P.M at Callahan Mortuary.