Joan Patricia Heaslip Ivester passed away on August 10, 2009 in Norman, Oklahoma. Joan, whose family owned a home in the Heights, was born on June 29, 1935 in Brooklyn and was adopted by her parents, John William and Helen Boardman Heaslip. She enrolled in Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie and graduated from Oakwood High School in 1953, receiving an associate's degree in art from Margorie Webster Junior College in Washington, D.C. prior to earning a bachelor's degree in art from Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio. She received a graduate degree in interior design from the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Joan worked in interior design at R. H. Macy's in the interior display and furniture design department and later for Trans World Airlines.

It was while attending the Parsons School that she met her husband, Hubert Clifford Ivester Jr.  After both received their degrees, the couple was wed on August 4, 1965 on Shelter Island where Joan had spent her early childhood.

They made their home in Fullerton, California where Cliff opened his own interior design studio, H. Cliff Ivester and Associates. While in Fullerton, the couple began their family of three daughters. In California, Joan served as president of the PTA and was active in the Orange County Philharmonic Society. She claimed she was a domestic executive or household engineer — not a housewife.

Following Cliff's retirement in the late 1980s, the family moved to Cliff's hometown of  Sayre, Oklahoma, where he developed and was curator of the Shortgrass Country Museum and Historical Society.

Joan enjoyed sailing, tennis, skiing, reading, knitting, sewing and playing bridge. She was a sustaining member of the Oklahoma City Junior League and in Sayre she was a Eucharistic and Stephens Minister at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church. When she moved to Norman she became an active member of the St. Thomas More University Parrish, the Norman Senior Citizens Center, Meals on Wheels, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Association, Oklahoma University Musical Theatre/Opera Guild and Dance Partners supporting the Oklahoma University School of Dance. Joan was an avid OU fan.

She is survived by her three daughters: Amanda and Steve Armon of Collinsville, Oklahoma, Christie and David Berry of  Plano, Texas and Laura Ivester of McKinney, Texas. Her grandchildren include Kyle and Corbin Armon of Collinsville and Ashleigh and Luke Berry  of Plano and a host of other relatives and friends.

Services and burial were held on Friday, August 14 in Oklahoma.

Condolences can be made online at www.whineryfs.com. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.