Joanne Hunt

Joanne Hunt, 86, passed away peacefully in Loveland, Colo., on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016. She was born and raised in Dakota City. Joanne began working part-time as a nurses' aid in a hospital in Sioux City, Iowa (close to Dakota City) at 13 years old during World War II and spent the rest of her working life as a nurse. She attended Wayne State Teachers College, University of Nebraska and graduated from the Kahler School of Nursing, Rochester, Minn. in 1950.

Joanne married Darrell Hunt in June 1951. They lived in small towns close to North Platte and then moved to western Nebraska. Joanne worked as a charge nurse at Sidney Memorial Hospital and later became an instructor in the West Nebraska Hospital School of Nursing, as well as working as the health coordinator in the Head Start Program in Scottsbluff. In Head Start, she wrote Pick-A-Packets for children and the "Happy Healthy Me" books for use in health education programs. Her favorite nursing job was head nurse in the Graduate Care Unit in West Nebraska General Hospital. Joanne was always driven to help other people live healthier lives.

Darrell and Joanne retired in Loveland, Colo., where she puttered in the garden, arranging roses and planting flowers in her neighbor's lawns! Joanne did what she wanted to do all her life, because she was a creative Danish farm girl from Nebraska.

She is survived by her daughters Faith and Katherine; grandchildren Amy, Tessa and Paige; great-grandchildren Hunter, Ava and Odys; and her siblings Shirley and Joe. All of her family and friends were always impressed by her in many ways and will deeply miss her. Joanne's family is so grateful for the wonderful care given to her by Good Samaritan employees during the last years of her life. We request that memorial gifts be made to Good Samaritan Society-Loveland Village. Cremation will be conducted. Go to http://www.viegutfuneralhome.com for condolences.