Joan Carey

Helen “Joan” Carey, age 87, of Winterset, left her family and friends to be with the Lord on Thursday, April 20, 2023.

Joan was born in Creston, Iowa on May 25, 1935 to her proud parents, Cecil and Virginia Faye Clouse. She was welcomed into the family by her older brother, Donald (Juanita) Clouse and later joined by a younger sister, Janice (Keith) Reason.

Joan spent her childhood years in the Diagonal, Iowa area where she rode her pony with her brother to rural schools and graduated as valedictorian of her class at Diagonal High School. After graduating from high school, she attended AIB in Des Moines where she majored in stenography and business. Her degree eventually took her to work for the Hubbells, known as the richest family in the Des Moines area, as their private secretary and stenographer.

Joan’s family started to grow and took her away from Des Moines and she moved to the Madison County area to raise her four children, James (Donna) Carey of Winterset, Rusty Carey (deceased), Marla (Dale) Luhrs of Fontanelle and Denise (Mark) Wade of Kingsland, GA.

Joan started working for the Iowa Department of Human Services where she retired after 30 years in 1997.

Living on the farm south of Earlham for 40 years, Joan enjoyed working in her garden, her beautiful flower beds, cooking, watching her birds, raising animals, quilting and sewing. But her most favorite thing of all was enjoying time with her family. Joan’s family expanded as the time went on with 5 grandchildren added to the fun; Jason (Jessica) Carey of Earlham, James (Emilie) Carey Jr. of Earlham, DJ (Stacy) Luhrs of Fontanelle, Dani (Mike) Briggs of Clearfield and Marcus Wade IV of Jacksonville, FL. Also, 8 great-grandchildren were added to the family fun.

In 2012, Joan sold her farm and moved to the Winterset area where she was surrounded by wonderful neighbors and friends.

Joan was a member of the Worthington Community Church where her body will be laid to rest. In addition to her church, she was also a member of the VFW Auxiliary, Women of Worthington, Red Hat Society and Winterset Al-Anon.

A memorial service for Joan will be held at 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, April 26, 2023 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home, Winterset Chapel where family will greet friends one hour prior, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in the Worthington Church Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the family for a future designation.