Joanne L. (Hart) Oines

Joanne Louise (Hart) Oines passed away Friday, March 8, 2019 at the Prairie Maison Care Center in Prairie du Chien, WI.  She was born October 26, 1926 and grew up in Helena, Arkansas with her father, who was the proprietor of Hart Shoes, her mother, who taught kindergarten and Sunday school, and with her two sisters, Mary and Katsy.

At her mother’s side she learned piano and put her alto voice to use in church and school. In high school she sang on the radio in a trio with school friends. At that time the US Army Air Force built Helena Aero Tech, a pilot training base nearby and Joanne agreed to a blind date to a community dance, with pilot-in-training Alf Oines.  He departed with the 20th Air Force for Saipan, Joanne went to Maryville College, and when the war was over, Alf came back to Helena and married Joanne on June 6, 1947.  Alf enrolled at Michigan State to study horticulture on the GI Bill, and Joanne quit college and made their home in East Lansing, Michigan.

They had three children: Alan, Joel, and Peggy. Alf’s career took him to Chicago, then to Niles, Michigan where he started his own farm supply business, and Joanne was the devoted mother as her children grew up, teaching them to sing and draw and garden. They were all active members of First Presbyterian Church and participated in the inspirational choirs of that hospitable congregation.  Alan’s disabilities had awakened in Joanne a lifetime devotion serving those with special needs.  When Alf’s work took them to Clear Lake, Iowa, she returned to college, graduated from University of Northern Iowa in social work, and then earned a master’s degree from the University of Iowa.  Joanne began work for the Northern Trails Area Education Association as case manager for pre-school referrals and was nominated by her beloved colleagues and was chosen as the State of Iowa’s School Social Worker of the Year for 1988-89. She worked tirelessly as a volunteer at Opportunity Village, the residential facility in Clear Lake that became Alan’s permanent home. She and Alf were honored to be charter members of Galilean Lutheran Church.  Joanne spent her last few years in the devoted care of the Prairie Maison staff in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

She was proceeded in death by her parents and sister Mary, her daughter Peggy, her son Alan, and her husband Alf H. Oines. 

She is survived by four grandsons, her sister Katsy Murphy of San Antonio, her son Joel of Wauzeka, Wisconsin.

Her ashes will be interred at a later date in Galesville, Wisconsin. 

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Joanne L. (Hart) Oines, please visit our floral store.