Joan Clement Carlson

The middle child of five daughters born during the Great Depression, Joan became a follower of Jesus Christ at the tender age of 6. Even when her devoted father made the ultimate sacrifice while building ships during WWII, Joan’s faith never wavered. Joan learned the importance of faith and her own persistence during lean years as her mother, now single and alone, discovered how to make ends meet, raising five daughters without any assistance. When young Joan looked for a part-time job at Dupont, she was informed only children of employees would be considered for any position, even sweeping the floors. Joan persisted, repeating that she needed the job. She didn’t take “no” for an answer, and Dupont rewarded her persistence.

After graduating high school, Joan pursued a degree in science at a Virginia-based university. Around the same time, Joan met Grayson Sandy, a fellow Virginian, who aspired to become an attorney, and they married in November 1957. In 1959, Joan gave birth to Briana Sandy in North Carolina before Maureen Sandy was born in 1963 in Virginia. By the mid-1960’s, her husband, Grayson, decided to return to finish his law degree. This required Joan to obtain a teaching position to support the family while Grayson finished law school, which she gladly did. Later in life, she did recall she could have gone on to medical school if she hadn’t fallen in love, but she never regretted becoming a wife and mother.

In the Spring of1970, the Sandy clan moved to warm and sunny Phoenix, Arizona. Grayson took a job at the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor while Joan spent her time frugally redecorating the 1930’s ranch-style house (making the most of the royal-blue, shag carpet), stretching the food budget, and raising Briana and Maureen. She even managed to find time to teach her youngest daughter, Maureen, how to use a sewing machine to make her own clothes. She said, “If you can read, you can sew.” Additionally, she created her own apparel to stay in step with those crazy ‘70’s fashions. While Briana did not take to sewing, she excelled in baking. One of Joan’s proudest moments occurred when Briana’s first attempt at baking resulted in three sheet cakes joined and patriotically decorated for the Bicentennial party the family hosted. While stretching the house budget, Joan learned how to create gourmet entrees – did someone request Coq au Vin? - while at other times treating the family with her signature (her mother’s) Southern Fried Chicken, cinnamon rolls, and lemon bread - to name a few.

When the needs of the family necessitated Joan to return to teaching, she again stepped up to help support the family. She started teaching high school, starting with a substitute-teaching position then worked into a full-time position teaching math within the Phoenix Union high school district. While many would not find joy teaching general math to inner-city high school students, Joan loved and cared for her students, nudging them to learn and succeed as if it were her own personal mission. Maybe it was. Not long after returning to full-time teaching, Joan returned to complete her Master of Education degree, the one she had started over a decade prior, in her “spare time” at Arizona State University.

While Joan’s marriage to Grayson ended shortly after – there were many tears – Joan’s resilience and faith in the Lord helped her stand firm as she physically and emotionally blossomed. She realized that being a single mother didn’t mean giving up on her taking care of herself and having a social life. Between the opportunities to connect with others at church and gatherings, she took dance lessons and became adept in multiple ballroom-dance types before learning how to swing dance. By the early ‘80’s, she was remarried to an engineer, Bill, who worked at Honeywell. After she and Bill parted ways, she lamented that she remarried too soon and didn’t notice the “red flags” that preceded the wedding. After two marriages, she declared that she was never going to marry again.

After Joan retired and moved to Sun City, she met Harry Carlson, a US Navy veteran and retired Los Angeles County firefighter. Her declaration to never remarry was no match for a soft-spoken, godly man, who shared the same character trait: persistence. Even as Joan insisted the two were just friends, Joan could not deny her feelings and the obvious chemistry between them. Joan and Harry shared their lives – dancing, traveling, and loving - until his passing in October 2016. Preceding Harry’s passing after a lengthy hospitalization, Joan’s faith never wavered, and she stayed with her hero every day, morning to night, practically never leaving his side.

After Harry’s passing, Joan moved in with her daughter, Briana. Both enjoyed the company, and they supported each other through each other’s medical issues. Joan and Briana enjoyed watching classic movies at the local theaters, and at times, invited Maureen and Joan’s ex-husband, Grayson, to join them. During the pandemic, the Sandy family “re-assembled.” Joan and Grayson became friends during the birthday and holiday gatherings, and the family enjoyed playing Uno with Briana’s youngest son, Garrett, who could never get enough of the fun. Joan lived with Briana until March 2024, when Briana experienced multiple compound fractures in her ankle, requiring hospitalization and lengthy rehabilitation. Joan, with her resilience and attitude, adapted to life in a group home environment, without losing her joy or sense of humor before taking ill in late January 2025.

Joan, the strongest person I’ve ever met, will be remembered for her kindness, sacrifice, inventiveness, humor, intelligence, faith, and strength to weather all of life’s storms except the last one. She said, “It’s not what happens to you in life. It’s what you let it do to you.”

A visitation for Joan will be held Tuesday, May 27, 2025 from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM at Mariposa Gardens Memorial Park and Funeral Home, 400 South Power Road, Mesa, AZ 85206. A funeral service will occur Tuesday, May 27, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM, 400 South Power Road, Mesa, AZ 85206. A committal service will occur Tuesday, May 27, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM at West RestHaven, 6450 W Northern Ave, Glendale, AZ 85301.