JOAN JOY BLUST
January 20, 1930 – March 19, 2016
On January 20, 1930 in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood Joan Joy Jefferson was born in her maternal grandparents’ home to Marvin and Ruth (Westhaus) Jefferson. Her early school life took place in Catholic and public schools on Chicago’s north side where she studied tap dance and played accordion after school. By 5th grade she was attending school in Lake Villa where she lived on Crooked Lake and had just enough room to keep her favorite horse, Lady. Memorable summers were spent with relatives in Charlevoix, Michigan where she worked at Hooker Stables riding the horses across the channel bridge and into town for riders to use.
Joan was evaluated and accepted for admission by the Art Institute of Chicago, though family circumstances prevented her from attending. World War II had begun and her stepfather was transferred to the South where they lived near military bases in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia for several years.
As a young high school student looking for employment, she heard Bell Aircraft in Marietta, Georgia was hiring women as riveters. A patriotic teenager looking older than her years, she got the job! She worked on the fuselages of B-29s.
In 2004 Joan submitted her memories to Rosie the Riveter / World War II Home Front National Historic Park in Richmond, California and is identified as Rosie #6553. In February, 2007 she received the Kishwaukee Trail Chapter DAR “Women in American History” Award which was presented to her the following year on May 19, 2008. She more recently had been recognized during various veteran celebrations in Huntley, Illinois. An engraved brick commemorating her service as a “Rosie” will soon be installed in the Huntley Veterans Memorial on the green in downtown Huntley.
Joan lived most of her married life in Hinsdale, Illinois until 1979 when she and her husband, Bob Blust, retired to Crivitz, Wisconsin where they had vacationed for many years. At that time Joan joined St. Mary’s Catholic Church, pursued her interest in art, took numerous art classes and participated in various art fairs in northeastern Wisconsin. Moving from Crivitz to Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin in 1991, Joan then joined St. Mary's Queen of Peace Catholic Church and completed courses of study to become a Catholic Lay Minister and Eucharistic Minister, installed by Bishop Fliss of Superior, Wisconsin. While in Manitowish Waters, she taught CCD classes, visited the ill with Communion, and served Communion at weekly service. Continuing her studies in art, she took wood-carving classes from well-known Native American carver John Snow as well as Al Bacall, carving and painting numerous species of birds and fish, continuing to participate in Northwoods art fairs, copyrighting many of her works. Joan moved back to Illinois in 2001 after her husband’s death in 1997, choosing Huntley because of its proximity to her family. Joan had been an active member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Huntley serving as a Eucharistic and Lay Minister until her lack of mobility prevented it. She also served for 15 years as the Sunshine Chairman of the Huntley Senior Citizens Club. She will be remembered as a loving wife, mother and grandmother, always a cheerleader for any endeavor her family pursued; and excellent cook and homemaker; an exceptional artist; a good friend with a playful sense of humor; a lover of nature and all animals, wild and domestic; and a devout Catholic.
Joan is survived by her brother, Marv “Jeff” Jefferson (Audrey) of Elmhurst, Illinois as well as her sister Carole Pierce (Ken) of Highland Beach, Florida. Joan’s son, David Penland (Carol), is a custom jeweler and lives in Fairlee, Vermont. Joan’s daughter, Debbie McArdle (Jim), lives in Crystal Lake, Illinois where she and her husband own Iron Horse Antiques & Appraisals. Joan has two grandchildren, Stacy McArdle of Huntley, Illinois, owner of Iron Horse Estate Sales; and Jeff McArdle of Champaign, Illinois, Associate Journals Manager, University of Illinois Press.
On Monday, April 25, 2016, family and friends will gather at 9 a.m. in the Narthex of St. Mary Catholic Church, 10307 Dundee Road, Huntley, Illinois, followed by mass at 10 a.m. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, prayers and masses would be appreciated. One of Joan’s favorite charities was the Huntley Area Veterans Foundation, currently constructing a veterans memorial park in Huntley. Donations can be sent in Joan Blust’s memory to: Huntley Area Veterans Foundation, P.O. Box 232, Huntley, IL 60142 .
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