Joan Marilyn Bochmann

Thursday evening, September 26, 2013, after a long, bravely-fought battle with cancer.

Born on November 21, 1934, in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to Allen T. and Dorothy Muirhead, she attended school in the Yampa Valley and graduated from Steamboat Springs High School in 1952 as valedictorian of her class.

Joan entered the work force when she was fourteen, first doing childcare and then working as a clerk in a grocery store. Not long after high school, Joan married John Zimmerman, who was serving in the US Navy at the time. Two children were born to this union. Joan lived in San Diego, California; Craig, Colorado; and Riverton, Wyoming before moving to Boulder Colorado where she first worked for City of Boulder and finally as a paralegal for law offices in Boulder and Longmont for thirty some years until her retirement.

While working, Joan took night classes at the University of Colorado, Boulder, studying psychology and English Writing. Joan has always loved books, reading and writing, with a large collection of short stories, essays, articles, and a novel, Absaroka, which earned an IPPY award Honorable Mention for Best Regional Fiction in the Mountain West from the Independent Publishers Group. This book has been published in trade paperback and as an ebook (called Wild Horses of Absaroka) and an audio book, Absaroka: From War to Wyoming. She also narrated Miranda and Starlight, a book her sister wrote which was recently released on CDs.

Joan took lessons and got her pilots license in 1967. She loved to fly and never missed a chance to climb into a private airplane and soar above the clouds. Besides flying, riding horses, reading, and writing, Joan enjoyed skiing, playing golf, hiking, and camping. She especially liked holidays and times when her large extended family celebrated together. Her favorites were Thanksgiving and the annual family camping trip in the Colorado Rocky Mountains each summer.

Joan married Carl Bochmann in 1978 and they made their home near Berthoud, CO where she raised and rode Arabian horses. Joan loved her horses and her dogs, a series of Shelties, the last one passing away shortly after Joan was diagnosed with lung cancer.

She was a member of the Grace Place Church, in Berthoud, finding a new family of friends and loyal supporters who have never ceased to help her in her times of need.

Joan is survived by her husband, Carl Bochmann, of Berthoud, her daughter and son-in-law, Debra and Scott Tanner of Loveland and her son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Karon Zimmerman of Longmont, three grandchildren, Derek Love, of North Carolina, Jason Tanner, his wife Stefanie, and their two children, River and Jacie Tanner of Loveland, and Matthew Tanner and his wife Brianna and their two children, Jett and Kai Tanner, also of Loveland, two stepdaughters, Peggy Bochmann and Cynthia Bochmann, and two step-grandchildren, Jonathan Baldwin, and Ashleigh Riordan, all of California.

Joan is survived by five siblings, Allen Duane Muirhead and his wife Rosalie, of LaSalle, CO, Janet Muirhead Hill and her husband, Stanley Hill, of Norris, Montana, Shirley Wertz of Masonville, Sharon Knutson, of Loveland, and Larry Muirhead and his wife Sharon Muirhead of Bellvue (Rist Canyon) Colorado, many nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and great-grand nieces and nephews.

She is also survived by her dear and long-time friends, Nancy Dagle of Boulder, and Margie Wittington, of Berthoud and a host of other dear friends and fans.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Allen and Dorothy Muirhead and her brother-in-law, Tom Wertz.

Joan will be remembered for her love, loyalty, tenacity, talents, and her dedication and commitment to family, community, and her faith.

Services will be held on Wednesday, October 2 at 11:00 a.m. at Grace Place Church, 250 Mountain Avenue, Berthoud, CO.

Contributions may be made to her favorite charity, Running River Benefits, 24 Tracy Trail Rd, Loveland, CO 80537, in her honor and memory.