Joan Elizabeth Little

Joan was born in Van Nuys, CA on November 9, 1935. She was the daughter of Herbert F. Kees and Josephine Albers Kees. Sister to Gregory Kees (deceased) and William “Bill” Kees (Susan) and niece/nephews Scott Mercier, Lorraine Weissman and Blake Kees. Mother to Mark William, Carl Matthew and Kathrine Ann Vick (Michael and Andrew, age 7.)

Joan had a happy childhood and graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1953. She was a strong athlete lettering in volleyball and member of the basketball team. She was active in clubs and was named Princess to the May Queen in 1953. Upon graduation, she attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and later transferred to St. Mary’s Nursing School in San Francisco where she attained her RN degree in 1958. Always seeking adventure and the unknown, she sailed to Germany in 1959. She lived with relatives in Northern Germany for six months while waiting out her application to become a civilian nurse with the U.S. Army Medical Corps. She was offered a job at the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. While there, she bought a sporty MGA and traveled around Europe and met Lt. Carl Little, the love of her life.

She returned to the United States in 1962 and married Carl at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland in 1963. She and Carl welcomed Mark William in 1966 and Carl Matthew in 1967. Ever the wanderer, she happily accompanied Carl to his two year posting in Izmir, Turkey with her young sons. Daughter Kathrine Ann arrived in 1971, two weeks before Carl was deployed on his second tour of duty in Vietnam. Joan cared for their three children at her mother’s home in Los Angeles for a year before Carl returned in 1972.

The family moved often to Maryland, Kansas, Colorado, and Pennsylvania in 1978 for Carl to attend the Army War College in Carlisle, PA and in 1980 to serve as Colonel/Depot Commander at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in the Pennsylvania Poconos, which employed 4000 civilians and 200 military personnel. Finally in 1982, Joan was able to return to her roots and accompanied Carl to the West Coast when he took a role with the 6th U.S. Army and as Commander of Logistics Control Activity at the Presidio of San Francisco. She was a perfect Army Wife for 30 years.

Carl retired in 1987 and the family bought a new house in beautiful Bel Marin Keys, Joan’s final home after the years of moving and traveling. What a ride! She was a wonderful mother/grandmother, devoted wife and true friend. She could do anything – paint, sail, play tennis. We will miss her forever. No immediate plans for celebration given the coronavirus pandemic.