Joan Ann (Dietze) Dionne was born on November 13, 1937 in Los Angeles, CA and died in Kennewick, WA on August 10, 2015 while living at Callaway Gardens Alzheimer's Special Care Center.

She married Paul J. Dionne on December 14, 1957 and moved with him and their first child to the Tri-Cities  in 1960 and lived here (off and on) ever since. From 1960-1963 the family lived in CA, AZ, and NY, and from 2002-2005 Spokane. Their second child was born in CA in 1961.

Joan was a homemaker and attended or was a member of several churches including Westside, Columbia Foursquare, Bethel, Southside Christian, and Richland Baptist. She was very involved at Westside Church, helping to nurture the high-school youth, all while raising her family.

She is survived by her husband, children Daniel Dionne (Kelli), Shawn Dionne (Savenia), Jerri Dionne, and Melinda Wyatt (Alan), grandchildren Michael Dionne (Vanessa), Claire Millican (Jared), and David Dionne, great-grandson Elliott Dionne, sister Sally Gaines (Richard), nephew Bill Gaines, and niece Diane Hamilton (Shawn).

She was preceded in death by her father Irwin C. Dietze, mother Frances (Dougherty) Dietze, and daughter Deborah Ann Dionne. After Debbie died in 1965 Joan and Paul adopted three children.

A private graveside service for the family and a few friends was held on Saturday August 22 at Resthaven Cemetery in Richland.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at Westside Church, 615 Wright in Richland on Saturday September 19 at 11:00 am followed by a southern style cooking luncheon.

To quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well." And that describes Joan; she impacted so many lives on her journey here on earth and now she has joined her daughter in heaven.

Joan's God-given talents were a fun-loving, nurturing heart and an artistic eye that captured His creation through photography and drawing. Wherever she went, mountains, coast, even the desert, she had a special ability to see what nature was showing her in a marvelous way.

Her various friends describe her dear and profound influence on their lives, her creativeness, her hunger to know God deeper, her generosity, her willingness to share her talents, her kindness and patience, her ability to listen and care for whoever needed to talk and share, and her calming, steady presence that oozed security with a tender strength.

After the kids grew up and left home Joan attended Columbia Basin College and over the next three years obtained both a One Year Certificate in Practical Nursing and an Associate Degree in Applied Science - Nursing.

Joan loved traveling and used several organizations (Elderhostel, Good Samaritans, etc.) to visit many places in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Joan's memory please choose to donate to Heartlinks Hospice, 3920 Outlook Road, Sunnyside, WA 98944, or Focus on the Family, 8605 Explorer Drive, Colorado Springs, CO 80920 in her name.

The family wishes to thank Callaway Gardens and Heartlinks Hospice for the very special care they gave to Joan over the last 15 months.