Joy Simon, age 65 of Washburn, ND, died peacefully in her home under the care of hospice on April 26, 2013. Upon Joy's request, her body has been donated to the University of North Dakota School of Medicine.

A memorial service will be held 10:30 A.M. Friday, May 3rd at the United Methodist Church in Washburn with Pastor Peder Anderson officiating.

Joy was born June 4, 1947 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, the eldest of two children to Wesley K. & Arlene (Jurk) Jerving. She graduated from Sheboygan South High School in 1965. After graduation, she was employed as a dispatcher with the Sheboygan Police Department, where she met her future husband, Donald Simon. They were married on February 15, 1969 in Sheboygan. Joy and Don continued to make their home in Sheboygan where their oldest two children, Donal and Shayne, were born. They moved to Portage, WI in 1974 and to Washburn, ND in 1977. After moving to North Dakota, their third child, Caroline, was born.

Joy became involved in many organizations within the community. She was an active member of the Washburn Art Association where she published exhibit catalogs, judged art pieces, led children's workshops, and conducted demonstrations. She has fond memories of painting the Cardinal on the Washburn School Gymnasium wall in 1981 with her good friend Doddie Kuntz. The Cardinal bird is still present today. In 1984, they painted a Cardinal duo in the concession stand of the school. Joy had a love and enthusiasm for art and wanted to share that with children. She wrote a grant that gave funding for a group to do art education in McLean County schools from 1983-1985. She was known to wear crazy berets and ties when teaching classes.

She used a variety of art media to display her talent, from weavings and needlepoints, to pottery and ink. Her media even involved paintings of Dalmatians, toy soldiers, and football players on fire hydrants to a duck scene on their garage door. She designed and painted the welcome sign into Washburn and was the set designer and stage manager for various melodramas during the Washburn Riverboat Days. In her later years, she began quilting and enjoyed the time spent with her friends. She has made comfort quilts for those going through terminal illness, especially cancer.

Joy decided after her children were in school that she was going to return to work. She worked at the Washburn Standard station, now Unistop, for nearly 20 years. She enjoyed being able to "send people off to their jobs with a coffee and a smile". During this time, she also owned and operated from her home, "Needles and Pens", a framing business.

Joy was an active member of the American Legion Auxiliary, finding great satisfaction in the Poppy program. She enjoyed judging and rewarding young artists for their patriotism demonstrated in their artwork. She was known to give her all and she enjoyed helping where she could. She delivered Meals on Wheels and made sure to leave a dark chocolate for dessert. She was grateful to be able to share and bring to those who were homebound.
Joy was a longtime member of the Washburn United Methodist Church. She was very proud of the new church building. She had the vision of the street name and was so eager to show the sign, John Wesley Lane, to all her friends and family. She embraced the youth of the church as well, feeling they are the future members and helped in various youth activities. She was a member of the U.M.W. and developed and managed the church website, along with serving as publicist for the church newsletter up until the time of her illness.

She was proud to be a grandmother and loved her grandchildren more than anything in the world. She loved spending time in her craft room with her grandkids, playing UNO and hearing about their latest activities and accomplishments.

Grateful to have shared her love is her husband of 44 years, Don Simon of Washburn; three children, Donal (Shawn) Hewitt of West Fargo, Shayne (Meg) Simon of Alexandria, MN, and Carrie (Tom) Harding of Bismarck; nine grandchildren, Matthew, Stephanie, Elizabeth, & Joshua Hewitt, Cameron, Cadence, & Channing Simon, and Peyton & Landon Harding; one brother, John Jerving of Jacksonville, IL; sister-in-law, Barb (Dave) Sallis of Dousman, WI; brothers-in-law, Gary Simon and Robert Simon, both of Sheboygan, WI; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Joy was preceded in death by her parents (Wesley & Arlene), her mother & father-in-law (Eugene & Joyce), and a grandson (Caleb Harding).

We wish to thank all of Joy's friends and church family, as well as St. Alexius Hospice ( Jaimi & Rhonda) for the love and support during her illness and time of death. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Washburn United Methodist Church or St. Alexius Hospice.