Joan E. Fleskes

Joan E. Fleskes passed away, at the age of 62, on July 4th, 2017 from complications related to dementia. For a celebration of Joan’s life, please visit autumn-funerals-cremation.com. A private celebration of life will be held later in August. For Autumn Funerals: Joan E. Fleskes passed away on July 4th, 2017 from complications related to dementia. Joan touched the lives of every individual she met, leaving an indelible mark of love and care wherever she went. A native Oregonian, Joan loved the outdoors. She spent many years camping throughout the northwest, riding horses across the state, and swimming in the ocean. Joan developed a love for scuba diving that took she and her husband, John, to tropical locations on their travels. Joan was always as comfortable in the water as she was walking in the woods. Many of Joan’s days were filled with horseback riding and 4-H mom activities. Always there for each and every rider, Joan gave her all to love and support youth in their successes in showing and horsemanship. Her dedication to the club earned her the honor of “club mom”, always available to help with a belt buckle, cinch, or pattern. While Joan was a thirty-plus year veteran of U.S. Bank, her true impact was on those who worked with her. She formed instant, life-long friendships with many people she met through her professional life; friendships that transcended any workplace confines. In her retirement, Joan studied massage therapy and gave back to the geriatric community through healing massage. She focused on those that suffered from long illnesses, childhood polio, and other complications with the goal of bringing human touch and comfort to their lives. In Joan’s marriage to John Neal, she found the love and support that she had always provided to others. Joan and John, married for twenty years, brought love and light to one another that cannot be measured nor matched. Each of them were better for having married the other; the combination of their two families brought -- and continues to bring -- happiness and true family to everyone they touch. As the family expanded through the birth of grandchildren, Joan and John extended their love and devotion. We learned how to be family under their combined, endless devotion. Through times of loss, as with their grandson Max, Joan’s Mother Patricia, and Joan’s niece Marcia, Joan and John helped us mourn and remember. Joan’s capacity for love had no bounds. Joan’s passing leaves many in mourning, including her family. Joan is survived by: her father, James Fleskes; brothers Mickey and John Fleskes; sister Kathy Kierl; husband John Neal; daughter Courtney Palmer; stepdaughters Melissa Neal and Kari McDougal; four grandchildren Chloe McDougal, Taylor McDougal, Regan Palmer, and Bailey Neal. Please consider donating to alz.org to help fund the fight to find a cure for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Joan’s life will be celebrated in a private event in August.