In Memory of Joan Waldon Laimbeer

Joan Waldon Laimbeer, born April 20, 1937, died peacefully on March 3, 2023 at the age of 85 in Naples, Florida.

Born in Buffalo, Joan moved to California at an early age and was lucky to grow up in the heart and heyday of Hollywood. Joan liked to claim she was one of the original “valley girls” and when Darla from The Little Rascalswas your babysitter and Robert Redford and Natalie Wood were your high school classmates, it was hard to argue. It was also in the valley where Joan met her husband of 62 years, William “Bill” Laimbeer, when the young marine came to visit his grandmother who lived next door.

It was during her honeymoon in Pebble Beach that Joan realized she needed to learn to play golf and it didn’t take long for her to outshine, and out score, her husband. She was a long-time member of Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, a member at the Country Club of Boyne and Birchwood GC in Harbor Springs, Michigan, the Island Club in Marco Island, Florida - and the WGA for over thirty years. She took great pride in her 1992 Birchwood club championship and, on March 15, 2009, her hole-in-one at the Island Club. Most of all, Joan loved the game, the competition and the friends she made on and off the course.

Her other great passion was painting. The time she spent living in Hawaii, Palos Verdes Estates, California, Harbor Springs, Michigan, Marco Island, Florida and her world travels offered her the landscapes that she captured beautifully on canvas. Joan sold her paintings as fast as she could paint them, whether at the local art fair or, frequently, as commissioned works.

Joan was preceded in death by her husband Bill and her parents Clarence and Marjory Waldon. She is survived by her children William Jr. (Christiane), Lee Ann, Susan (Richard Ford), four grandchildren and one great grandchild - born just 11 days before her death. She is also survived by her brother Clarence Jr., his wife Margaret and six nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider a donation to Marco Dementia Respite or the Alzheimer’s Support Network, Naples.

There will be no public service.