Joan Arnold
June 12, 1928 - February 12, 2022
Obituary
Joan Lauer Arnold, the inspiration and energy behind the creation of the Whatcom Chorale in Bellingham, Washington, passed away on a clear and sunny pacific northwest day in February. It was a day where one could see Mount Baker, the Olympics and Rainier, soft breezes ruffled the leaves and birds heralded the possibility of spring with their song.
Joan’s life began in the ‘opposite corner’ – she was born in upstate New York in the town of Orchard Park on June 12, 1928, to Luther and Julia Lauer. Her mother was a powerful personality, but suffered from rheumatoid arthritis from which she died relatively young. Joan spent her high school years caring for her bedridden mother. She had an older brother, Don Lauer, who passed away in 1985.
Music was an important piece of Joan’s joy. She loved the piano, and later in life had two in her living room, enticing family and friends to play two piano pieces with her. She also loved to sing. In the mid 1960’s she and several other Bellingham couples met regularly at one another’s homes, calling themselves The Madrigals. Upon hearing that someone had suggested the group was more interested in wine than singing, a fire got lit and Joan set about organizing the Whatcom Chorale, auditions required. The Whatcom Chorale still performs today, and if you attend a concert and listen hard, you may hear a little of Joan’s earnest voice among the altos. Even when Joan’s voice finally failed in her 90’s, she would still join in song and music was always a way to connect.
Joan’s parents were determined that she go to college. She went to Duke, singing in the Chapel Choir and graduating with a degree in sociology in 1950. While visiting her brother in Indiana, she met and eventually married James H. Straughan in 1954. Thus began Joan’s journey West, as she and Jim moved from Montana to California to Oregon and, in 1963, to Bellingham.
After Joan and Jim divorced in 1968, she found herself a single working mother. Bellingham had few childcare resources. She managed innumerable calls from her children to her office, and also became a volunteer and board member of the Bellingham Childcare Center.
She was blessed to remarry twice to wonderful and caring partners. In 1973 she married Gordon P. Hayes of Bellingham. Gordon had an exuberant personality with enough energy to help finish raising her children and still play a mean game of crib. They were very happy together until Gordon’s passing in 1990.
A number of years later she became reacquainted with John Arnold, a retired physician and long-time family friend dating back to her arrival in Bellingham. John courted Joan by bringing his golden retriever over to Joan’s house where they would remove ticks from the dog’s long hair. Joan was smitten. They married in 2004. They spent twelve wonderful years together before John passed in 2016.
Joan’s career at Western Washington State College (eventually Western Washington University), placed her at the cutting edge of the computer age. Western boasted one of the newest IBM mainframes, which occupied an entire room kept at 50 degrees to avoid catastrophic overheating. To her children, it was a scene out of Star Trek. All this equipment – less powerful than any cell-phone made today – required care and feeding by a team of student volunteer assistants, of which Joan was in charge.
Joan noted that everything about the computer department was cold and gray as a Bellingham winter. The building was rough-finished concrete: floors, walls and ceilings. To top it off, the computer department ordered new carpet – gray. So her kids were surprised when Joan arrived home with a remnant of gray carpet to redo the stairwell. Then she produced a large quantity of RIT Dye. Orange.
While at WWU, she joined a study on how regular walking affects adult health. The study came and went, but Joan and the walking group continued, meeting in Fairhaven three times a week for early-morning walks, rain or rain. She was a fast walker.
Joan had a special gift for friendship. No matter how busy her life might be, or challenging, or tiring, she always had time for friends. She maintained cherished friends from childhood all the way through to the end of her days, and when she passed her bedside table was filled with cards from friends, as well as a stack of unused greeting cards she had picked up in anticipation of sending them out to just the right person. She was as caring of the staff at Covenant Shores as they were of her. It was a lesson in life that we are lucky to have witnessed.
Joan wished to be remembered with this photo of her at Machu Picchu.
Joan is survived by her daughter Jennifer Straughan and her sons Baird and Ben Straughan, her stepsons Bob, Ken and Phil Arnold and Gordon Hayes Jr., as well as numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. Memorials may be made to the Whatcom Chorale or the Bellingham Childcare & Learning Center.
A memorial service is planned for this summer. Details to be announced.
