Joan Emily (Johnson) Trotter was born October 29, 1928, the first of three, on the Johnson family farm in Eastern Nebraska, near Weeping Water. Her parents were Claude and Amilia (Hoehn) Johnson.
At 16, Joan graduated from high school then attended the Lincoln School of Commerce in Lincoln, Nebraska, where she met her husband, Robert (Bob) Trotter. They were married in 1948 and stationed at Fort Campbell Kentucky where Joan worked in the Army Hospital on base. Bob later found employment with the Union Pacific Railroad and moved them to Laramie, Wyoming. Joan worked for the Dean of Men at the University of Wyoming then for the Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service later. Joan’s father came out to Wyoming and built them a home in 1953 where she spent the rest of her life. In 1955 they were blessed with their only child Richard. Joan worked for the Bureau of Mines located on the University of Wyoming campus where she eventually earned her bachelor’s degree. Her greatest joy was teaching English as a Second Language and serving on the Hospitality Committee for Foreign Students. She made many wonderful and lifelong friends from all over the world. This spurred her desire to travel and visited Europe, Northern Africa, Central and South America, and New Zealand which she had a special fondness for. She and Bob shared their home with several foreign students over the years. Joan was a lifelong member of the First United Methodist Church in Laramie.
After a battle with Dementia, she passed peacefully in her sleep June 21, 2025, at the age of 96. She will be missed by her family and many dear friends.
Joan is preceded in death by her parents and her husband Bob.
She is survived by her sisters Harriet (Larry) Knee and Sue (Bob) Solberg, son Richard (Diane), granddaughters Randi (Tim) Downham and Kelsey Trotter, great grandchildren Alex, Rhyan, Reese and Hayes, and extended family.
A Funeral Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 30, 2025 at the First United Methodist Church. Interment will follow at Greenhill Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to the Laramie Animal Welfare Society. The family extends heartfelt thanks to all the caregivers of Home Instead and Cottonwood Health and Rehabilitation.
Loss of Joan is painful. A cultivated and gracious lady, Joan was the Rock of Gibraltar. We will miss her.
When I first came to Laramie in 1983, Joan welcomed me into her home as my host family. She picked me up at the airport, and I lived with her, sharing many warm days together. After I moved away, we kept in touch for over forty years, exchanging letters, gifts for birthdays and holidays, and phone calls just to say hello. Joan was not only a host to me but became a dear friend for life. I will always remember her kindness and warmth, and I will miss her very much.
Dick and Diane, so sorry to hear that Joanie has left us. My years in Laramie were largely spent in the shared company of the Trotters and Festers, leaving me with lovely adventurous memories (what ever became of that toboggan?) and now the feeling that I too have lost family.
Joan and I shared a fence for over 50 years! As a kid I'd water flowers and look after Harvey the dog an Phred the cat when Bob and Joan traveled. Years later our daughter raked leaves and helped weed those flower beds I'd watered all those years ago... In recent years Joan was a big fan of our honey, and always returned her empty jars for full ones. A lifetime of memories. I can't begin to count the "over the fence chats" we shared. She will be missed!
So sorry to hear that dear Joan has died, Dick and Dianne. Can't hardly think of life growing up in Laramie without thinking of her and her friendship to our family. She was always caring and interested and such a great conversationalist. I have the greatest memories of family excursion all over southern Wyoming and Northern Colorado with Joan. The remembered laughter from all those adventures serves me well as I come to grips with the disappointment of not seeing her again. My heartfelt condolences to you and your family, and to all who love her!
My Earliest Memory of Joan: She walked down the railroad tracks from the Wade's house to our house to get home from High School in Weeping Water Nebraska. I realized that she had come home although I was around 3 years old so have little or no memories of her back then. It was like I felt a breeze when she got home. I would like to retrace those railroad tracks just the distance that Joan walked to get home from the Wade's place.
Dick and Diane, I am so very sorry for your loss. It is such a difficult time in our lives when we lose our parents. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Joan was a good friend to our family, and a valued colleague of Dad’s. She was also a great mom to our friend, Dick! She will be missed.
So sorry for your loss, she was such a great lady, Klaus loved visiting with her. Thinking of all of you. Klaus/Lisa Halbsgut
So so sorry for your loss. Your family is in our hearts and prayers.
So very sorry to hear of the loss of your dear Mother; you are in my thoughts and prayers
Sorry to here about Joan have great memories of her
Dick & Diane...so sorry to hear about Joan. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family now.
Dick, Diane, and family: Joan was always a kind and friendly person. One time when we were playing, I was trying to hide my Superman outfit under my clothes, and she whispered to me that my cape was showing. We had a good laugh about that one! Saw her many times at concerts at UW and she always stopped to talk and update me on the family, it was her favorite subject, and you could see it in her shining eyes. Dick, you are blessed to have had your Mother in your life for so long. She will be dearly missed!!!
Dick, Diane, and family, we are sorry for your loss. We know this is a difficult time, and hope you can remember the joyful experiences that Joan was a part of .
Dick and Diane - so sorry to hear about Joan. It is never easy losing a parent...even if you think you are prepared for it...know that you are in our prayers and thoughts.
I met your familymember, Joan Trotter, when I came to Wyoming in 1991 as she worked for EG&G, a contractor for DOE where I had transferred to from Kelly Air Force Base, TX. I moved back to Wyoming at that time since it was my desire to return to WY where I was born and she was the first friend I made when I returned. She was a delight to be around and we shared a lot of interesting memories growing up, she in Nebraska and me in Wyoming and our connections since both of us had worked for the Military. We were involved in several organizations outside our job, one being the National Association of Active and Federal Employes. In addition. we belonged to a Stock Club along with some of our fellow employees. She and I researched her family history and we accomplished quite a bit getting back to the early 1800's and even to the 1700's which was her goal. We had fun working together. I will always miss her, but want you to know I'm thinking of you, her family. I know her spirit will continue to shine through those whose lives she has touched of which one is mine. She was definately a special person.