Charmaine “Joan” Spath was born February 28,1948 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Richard “Dick” and Charmaine “Cherie” Quigley. Joan moved to Lincoln, Nebraska with her family after grade school. She attended Mickle Junior High and Northeast High school, where she eventually met her future husband, Denny. Denny and Joan were married June 4, 1966, in Lincoln, Nebraska but were not able to honeymoon as Denny left for boot camp the following day. The couple went on to have three children – Michelle, Todd and Julie. Throughout her life, Joan worked several administrative/clerical jobs, finally retiring from the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. Joan spent her “golden years” helping Julie care for her 2 young children, Hunter and Samantha, and eventually caring for her own mother. Joan eventually succumbed to complications from metastatic lung cancer on March 8, 2025.
Joan was a loving and outgoing woman. She loved to socialize to the point where she became a “regular” at Village Inn. She would venture out every day for brunch and end up spending hours at the restaurant. If she wasn’t having conversations with friends, she was reading. Initially she read romance novels but then she became a lover of mystery/crime stories. Joan was known by many names: Joan, Mama Joan, Grandma Joan in addition to daughter, mother, grandmother and friend.
Joan is survived by her daughter Julie, grandchildren Hunter and Samantha. She is preceded in death by her mother and father, Cherie and Dick, her brother, Leon “Butch”, her daughter, Michelle and her son, Todd.
