Joan Ann Makowski

Joan Ann Makowski, 89, died peacefully on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at Caley Ridge Assisted Living Facility in Englewood, CO with her daughter near her.   

 

Joan was born March 30, 1936 in Chicago, IL to Joseph and Jennie Bruns and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with her younger sister, Mary (Castro) and their younger brother, Joseph; in due time, Joan becoming a trusted and loved Aunt of her sister’s sons, Robert and Joseph, and of her brother’s daughter, Tracey.

 

Joan spoke frequently and with immense joy of her memories of growing up. Many of her stories seemed to involve her mother’s side of the family, on which she had five sets of Aunt’s and Uncle’s and eventually, 15 cousins. Joan fondly recalled that get-togethers were frequent and happy, as everyone lived nearby enough that holidays, birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, first communions, confirmations, weddings, and just weekends at the park, it seemed, would trigger a party with most family members attending and love abounding! Joan recounted high-spirited Christmas parties at Aunt Sarah and Uncle Al Mattson’s, and of picnics where family members would play “blow the feather.” Joan also spoke of spending time at a summer “lake house” where the guys would fish and the gals would tan and when at bedtime, all the relatives in the home would holler out “good-night” over and over from their beds and then everyone would get the giggles!

 

Part of Joan’s childhood was going to the ballpark; she was always a Chicago Cubs fan. Joan spoke with a twinkle in her eye when recalling the shenanigans taken by and the bribes offered by different aunt’s and uncle’s attempting to change her loyalty to the White Socks. While Joan’s original favorite team was the Chicago Cubs, she also grew to love and remained loyal to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame (after meeting her husband) and the Denver Broncos (after moving to Colorado) football teams.

 

After high-school Joan worked at her mother’s dress store, “Bruns Apparel Shop,” off 95th in Oak Lawn, IL, where her favorite part of her job was decorating the storefront windows, especially for Christmas. Joan had a co-worker, Carol Derbas, who shared the same birthday as Joan, and they became best friends. Joan and Carol took a girls’ trip together that was a trip of a lifetime! They traveled by rail from Chicago to the Grand Canyon! What wonderful memories Joan had of that trip and how both Joan’s and Carol’s eyes lit up when they spoke of it!

 

Joan was introduced to her husband, Robert Makowski, by her mother Jennie, who knew Robert through work and thought very highly of him. It should be noted that, prior to their introduction, Joan was considering becoming a nun. As it turned out, Robert and Joan first met at a Halloween party in 1961 and on Valentine’s Day 1962 Robert proposed marriage; Joan said “yes” and they were married on September 22, 1962, at St. Mary of Mt. Carmel Church, in Chicago.

 

Joan and Robert had two children, Laura and Michael; they headed west to Colorado in 1972, after falling in love with the wild beauty of the state, having traveled there on their honeymoon. Robert and Joan had their own little “green acres” in Parker, Colorado and embraced it with gusto, adding Stormy the horse, Billy the cow, and Jingles the dog into their family! Joan’s favorite part of having a little piece of land was gardening – she grew corn, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, watermelon, green beans and more !

Joan became active at her local church, Ave Maria, and made many more friends with whom she shared the joy that comes with serving! Joan’s help at Ave Maria included being a Sacristan, volunteering on the Welcoming Committee, the Funeral Ministry, the Grief Ministry and the Martha’s Ministry, cleaning, laundry, and scheduling reader’s and the altar servers. Joan was diligent and committed to her acts of service; one former altar server recently recalled with a smile “I remember Joan combing and surveilling the foyer of Ave Maria for altar boys, because someone did not show up. Hated to make eye contact because I knew I was going to have to be an altar boy that day. She did it nicely and with grace, but I was like - ugh! And even if I avoided her, she would find Dad and I knew I was a shoe in for the gig that day!”  

 

Joan moved to Caley Ridge Assisted Living in Englewood, Colorado in October 2022; while Joan would have preferred to stay at her home of 50 years in Parker, the layout of her Parker home made it impractical, if not dangerous to stay in, due to all of the stairs.  Joan became especially close to her new neighbor, Donna Basilin at Caley Ridge, as they both came from Italian / Catholic families and had other similarities in their backgrounds. Joan loved and was loved by her new friends and many of the Care Team and staff at Caley Ridge. Donna Basilin, some of Joan’s local friends from Ave Maria including Marilyn Actor, Toni Trout-Mikel and Nancy Richardson and the Bloom Hospice Team were able to make sure that Joan was comfortable and not alone during her last week on this-side-of-heaven. Joan’s daughter, Laura was able to be by her side, hold her hand and sing and chat to her for a few hours prior to Joan joining her beloved husband, dear child and all her cherished loved ones who have died before her.

 

Joan is survived by her daughter, Laura (Moorhead) of Nevada and her husband Keith, their children Christopher, Tyler, and Dallas, and by her great grandson, Azreal Moorhead, born to Joan’s grandson, Christopher, and Ms. Suzanne Green - all of whom Joan loved dearly.  Joan is also survived by her dear sister and brother, Mary and Joseph, her immediate nephews and nieces Robert, Joseph and Tracey, and their children and grandchildren.

 

Joan was preceded in death by her husband, Robert (2006) and by their son, Michael (2015).

 

Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. (mountain time), on Friday, June 27, 2025 at Ave Maria Catholic Church, 9056 East Parker Road, Parker, Colorado 80138, and will be available to live stream through the following link https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.com%2Fv3%2F__https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Flive%2FppvCcvlkFnk%3Ffeature%3D3Dshare__%3B!!OH7Jjwzyk1GPUgacbQ!v6pgnmnQoMUK65Jvjv46FbN9hfrvRAR20ydH0cauhHPcpmOtaYbt-wHuvmLIAaMHP_f4qLBXtK3Glx4PiNUH4oZow2Zzco7vUNkz1c0%24&data=05%7C02%7Cmadilyn.theyson%40ponderosavalleyfunerals.com%7Ccfa3e21024304464d95c08dda3b2b6d8%7C98c6bcb2ecac45b48db79976d46784c4%7C0%7C0%7C638846710148306443%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LR4PY%2BHAq0fW7%2F8pFF3nCVzvQkemD8xl%2BO7xBF3KPvo%3D&reserved=0  

 

There will be a private interment at Fort Logan National Cemetery follow a light lunch at the church, provided at the kindness of the Ave Maria Martha’s Ministry.

Family requests that, in lieu of flowers, kindly consider a donation to Ave Maria Catholic Church in Joan’s memory.

The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.

Psalm 116:15 NLT