Jo Rae Dahl (nee Joan Lucas) was born September 6, 1933 in Washington, D.C. and graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in 1951. Raised as an Episcopalian, she converted to Roman Catholicism at the age of 15. She attended Georgetown University and the University of Florida. On September 11, 1953, she married David C. Dahl, a pilot in the US Air Force, in Washington, D.C., and their lifetime of world-wide adventures began. In July 1954, their daughter Denise was born at Langley AFB in Virginia. They moved to Chanute AFB in Illinois and had a daughter, Susan, who died in infancy. The family moved to Nagoya, Japan where daughter Laura was born in February 1957. They returned to the US to Eglin AFB in Florida and Jo Rae began her teaching career. In 1963 Dave volunteered for assignment to Bolivia as Maintenance Advisor to the Bolivian Air Force. Spanish fluency was required for both husband and wife, so they attended the Foreign Service language school in Arlington, Virginia for six months before heading off to La Paz. The Spanish fluency served her well and allowed her to teach at a Bolivian school. The family returned to Langley AFB in 1964, where Jo Rae taught second grade at St. Mary’s school. In November 1967, Dave went to Viet Nam and served as a Forward Air Controller at Nakhon Phanom (Thailand) and Quang Tri (Viet Nam). The family decided to “accompany” him by moving to Bangkok, Thailand, and living in a hotel for a year, where Dave was able to join them for 5 days each month. After the one-year deployment, the family returned to Langley AFB, where Jo Rae headed a reading and learning disabilities clinic. Daughter Denise graduated from high school and followed in her mother’s footsteps by attending the University of Florida. In 1973 Dave was named Air Attache to the US Embassy in Montevideo, Uruguay and the family happily moved. Jo Rae worked as a guidance counselor at the Uruguayan-American School. Daughter Laura was in her senior year of high school, and upon graduation, she joined her sister at the University of Florida. Dave and Jo Rae returned to the US to Homestead AFB, Florida, where Dave retired from the Air Force and Jo Rae graduated from Florida International University with a degree in social work in 1977. But the adventures were not over yet.
When Dave went to work for Lockheed in Tehran, Iran, Jo Rae worked as an adoption social worker, placing Iranian children from orphanages with American families. In March 1978 Dave went to work as a private pilot (Sabreliner, Jetstar, G-4) for a Saudi businessman, and later a Turkish Cypriot businessman. They were based in London for the next 13 years, and flew world-wide throughout Europe, Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. Jo Rae enjoyed her role as the flight attendant extraordinaire. Dave retired for the second time in 1991, and they settled in Marietta, Georgia. The adventures in 60+ countries and 40+ homes are well-represented in their much-beloved friends, as well as their love of all cultures.
Jo Rae’s retirement years were spent scrapbooking, traveling, working at AAUW book fairs, and enjoying time with family and friends, new and old, in Georgia and Florida and around the world.
Dave passed away in 2015. She missed him every day. She enjoyed new experiences with her daughters and friends, but she still missed him every day.
Jo Rae was preceded in death by her husband David C. Dahl, her infant daughter Susan, her parents James and Mary Bertha Lucas. She is survived by her daughters, Denise Eileen Dahl of Coral Springs, Florida and Laura Adrienne Dahl of Chicago, Illinois, and by her sister, Joyce Myers of Delaware.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the East Cobb branch of AAUW, the American Association of University Women – https://ww2.aauw.org/donate-gift-new/ . Visitation will be Thursday, December 3, from 5 to 8 pm, H.M. Patterson & Son Canton Hill Chapel. Memorial mass will be Friday, December 4, at 11 am, St. Ann’s Catholic Church, 4905 Roswell Rd., Marietta, Georgia. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
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