PINETOP, Ariz. — Joan (Johnson) Baeza died Friday, November 16, 2018 in her home in Pinetop, AZ. She was born April 28, 1931 to descendants of a New Ulm pioneer family that came to the Minnesota Territory in 1856. Joan grew up in the historic Dacotah House hotel built in 1858 in downtown New Ulm. It was built by Joan’s great grandparents, German immigrants Adolph and Helena Seiter. The hotel served as a refuge and hospital during the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862. Adolph and Helena turned the hotel over to Joan’s grandparents, Emma (Seiter) Johnson and her husband, Fred W. Johnson. Fred was “Mr. New Ulm” in the early 20th Century: he promoted converting Broadway Street to four lanes, he beautified the city’s streets and parks, he founded the Brown County Historical Society, and Johnson Park is named after him. Emma and Fred turned the hotel over to Joan’s parents, Norman and Geraldine Johnson, in 1929. In 1943 Joan moved with her parents to Renton, Washington during World War ll.
Returning to the Midwest, she graduated from high school in Belleville, KS in 1949. Following her graduation, her parents bought a motel on old Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ. In 1949 Joan enrolled in Stanford University, spending her junior year at the University of Nottingham, England. She also spent one summer studying southwestern anthropology and archaeology at the University of New Mexico. She graduated from Stanford in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in history. She returned to Arizona and began exploring northern Arizona and writing for Arizona Highways magazine.
In 1956 Joan married Cooney Jeffers, a cattleman. They lived on a 100-section cow/calf ranch south of Holbrook. She wrote about those years in her book “Ranch Wife” (by Jo Jeffers), published by Doubleday in 1964. In 1965, she moved to Pinetop, her primary residence ever since. She made her living writing, editing, teaching part time as associate faculty at Northland Pioneer college and working for the USDA Forest Service as a lookout during fire seasons. She married western author J.P.S. Brown in 1966 and was blessed with two step-children Paula and Bill Brown. In 1975 she married horse trainer Mario Baeza. They ended their marriage amicably in 1981.
In 1981, at the age of 50, Joan began her newspaper career writing for the White Mountain Independent. In 1999 she received Arizona Highways Silver Award for her story “Springtime in the Mountains,” and she has received five first-place awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association for columns in the Independent. In 2001 she received the Sharlot Hall Award from Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum for her work in preserving Arizona history and culture through her writing. In 2006 she was named “Culturekeeper” by the Arizona Historical Foundation.
She self-published “Eagles at Noon,” a collection of poems, in 2011. Her territorial history, “Arizona; the Making of a State,” was published in 2012 as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, sponsored by the Arizona Historical Advisory Board. Arcadia Press published her latest book “Pinetop-Lakeside” as part of its “Images of America” series. As the consummate writer, Joan continued to talk about her next story and books until just before passing.
Joan last visited New Ulm when she served as Grand Marshal in the Germanic-American Day Parade opening Oktoberfest in 2013. As recently as the fall of 2018 Joan donated several pieces of historic furniture from the old Dacotah hotel to the Brown County Historical Society.
Joan contracted scleroderma, a debilitating disease. As the disease affected her, she became more limited in her ability to do the things she loved. Always a picture of grace and compassion, even in her suffering Joan prayed for her friends and caregivers before herself.
A memorial service was held November 29 in St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Joan’s dear friend, Fr. Bill Day officiated. Her ashes will be interred in the Johnson Family plot at the New Ulm City Cemetery at a future date. Memorials are preferred to the Brown County Historical Society.
~~~~~~~~~~
Parents: Norman & Geraldine (McCormick)Johnson
Grandparents: Frederick & Emma (Seiter) Johnson
Great Grandparents Adolph & Helena (Erd) Seiter
Returning to the Midwest, she graduated from high school in Belleville, KS in 1949. Following her graduation, her parents bought a motel on old Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ. In 1949 Joan enrolled in Stanford University, spending her junior year at the University of Nottingham, England. She also spent one summer studying southwestern anthropology and archaeology at the University of New Mexico. She graduated from Stanford in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in history. She returned to Arizona and began exploring northern Arizona and writing for Arizona Highways magazine.
In 1956 Joan married Cooney Jeffers, a cattleman. They lived on a 100-section cow/calf ranch south of Holbrook. She wrote about those years in her book “Ranch Wife” (by Jo Jeffers), published by Doubleday in 1964. In 1965, she moved to Pinetop, her primary residence ever since. She made her living writing, editing, teaching part time as associate faculty at Northland Pioneer college and working for the USDA Forest Service as a lookout during fire seasons. She married western author J.P.S. Brown in 1966 and was blessed with two step-children Paula and Bill Brown. In 1975 she married horse trainer Mario Baeza. They ended their marriage amicably in 1981.
In 1981, at the age of 50, Joan began her newspaper career writing for the White Mountain Independent. In 1999 she received Arizona Highways Silver Award for her story “Springtime in the Mountains,” and she has received five first-place awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association for columns in the Independent. In 2001 she received the Sharlot Hall Award from Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum for her work in preserving Arizona history and culture through her writing. In 2006 she was named “Culturekeeper” by the Arizona Historical Foundation.
She self-published “Eagles at Noon,” a collection of poems, in 2011. Her territorial history, “Arizona; the Making of a State,” was published in 2012 as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, sponsored by the Arizona Historical Advisory Board. Arcadia Press published her latest book “Pinetop-Lakeside” as part of its “Images of America” series. As the consummate writer, Joan continued to talk about her next story and books until just before passing.
Joan last visited New Ulm when she served as Grand Marshal in the Germanic-American Day Parade opening Oktoberfest in 2013. As recently as the fall of 2018 Joan donated several pieces of historic furniture from the old Dacotah hotel to the Brown County Historical Society.
Joan contracted scleroderma, a debilitating disease. As the disease affected her, she became more limited in her ability to do the things she loved. Always a picture of grace and compassion, even in her suffering Joan prayed for her friends and caregivers before herself.
A memorial service was held November 29 in St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Joan’s dear friend, Fr. Bill Day officiated. Her ashes will be interred in the Johnson Family plot at the New Ulm City Cemetery at a future date. Memorials are preferred to the Brown County Historical Society.
~~~~~~~~~~
Parents: Norman & Geraldine (McCormick)Johnson
Grandparents: Frederick & Emma (Seiter) Johnson
Great Grandparents Adolph & Helena (Erd) Seiter
PINETOP, Ariz. — Joan (Johnson) Baeza died Friday, November 16, 2018 in her home in Pinetop, AZ. She was born April 28, 1931 to descendants of a New Ulm pioneer family that came to the Minnesota Territory in 1856. Joan grew up in the historic Dacotah House hotel built in 1858 in downtown New Ulm. It was built by Joan’s great grandparents, German immigrants Adolph and Helena Seiter. The hotel served as a refuge and hospital during the U.S. – Dakota War of 1862. Adolph and Helena turned the hotel over to Joan’s grandparents, Emma (Seiter) Johnson and her husband, Fred W. Johnson. Fred was “Mr. New Ulm” in the early 20th Century: he promoted converting Broadway Street to four lanes, he beautified the city’s streets and parks, he founded the Brown County Historical Society, and Johnson Park is named after him. Emma and Fred turned the hotel over to Joan’s parents, Norman and Geraldine Johnson, in 1929. In 1943 Joan moved with her parents to Renton, Washington during World War ll.
Returning to the Midwest, she graduated from high school in Belleville, KS in 1949. Following her graduation, her parents bought a motel on old Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ. In 1949 Joan enrolled in Stanford University, spending her junior year at the University of Nottingham, England. She also spent one summer studying southwestern anthropology and archaeology at the University of New Mexico. She graduated from Stanford in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in history. She returned to Arizona and began exploring northern Arizona and writing for Arizona Highways magazine.
In 1956 Joan married Cooney Jeffers, a cattleman. They lived on a 100-section cow/calf ranch south of Holbrook. She wrote about those years in her book “Ranch Wife” (by Jo Jeffers), published by Doubleday in 1964. In 1965, she moved to Pinetop, her primary residence ever since. She made her living writing, editing, teaching part time as associate faculty at Northland Pioneer college and working for the USDA Forest Service as a lookout during fire seasons. She married western author J.P.S. Brown in 1966 and was blessed with two step-children Paula and Bill Brown. In 1975 she married horse trainer Mario Baeza. They ended their marriage amicably in 1981.
In 1981, at the age of 50, Joan began her newspaper career writing for the White Mountain Independent. In 1999 she received Arizona Highways Silver Award for her story “Springtime in the Mountains,” and she has received five first-place awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association for columns in the Independent. In 2001 she received the Sharlot Hall Award from Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum for her work in preserving Arizona history and culture through her writing. In 2006 she was named “Culturekeeper” by the Arizona Historical Foundation.
She self-published “Eagles at Noon,” a collection of poems, in 2011. Her territorial history, “Arizona; the Making of a State,” was published in 2012 as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, sponsored by the Arizona Historical Advisory Board. Arcadia Press published her latest book “Pinetop-Lakeside” as part of its “Images of America” series. As the consummate writer, Joan continued to talk about her next story and books until just before passing.
Joan last visited New Ulm when she served as Grand Marshal in the Germanic-American Day Parade opening Oktoberfest in 2013. As recently as the fall of 2018 Joan donated several pieces of historic furniture from the old Dacotah hotel to the Brown County Historical Society.
Joan contracted scleroderma, a debilitating disease. As the disease affected her, she became more limited in her ability to do the things she loved. Always a picture of grace and compassion, even in her suffering Joan prayed for her friends and caregivers before herself.
A memorial service was held November 29 in St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Joan’s dear friend, Fr. Bill Day officiated. Her ashes will be interred in the Johnson Family plot at the New Ulm City Cemetery at a future date. Memorials are preferred to the Brown County Historical Society.
~~~~~~~~~~
Parents: Norman & Geraldine (McCormick)Johnson
Grandparents: Frederick & Emma (Seiter) Johnson
Great Grandparents Adolph & Helena (Erd) Seiter
Returning to the Midwest, she graduated from high school in Belleville, KS in 1949. Following her graduation, her parents bought a motel on old Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ. In 1949 Joan enrolled in Stanford University, spending her junior year at the University of Nottingham, England. She also spent one summer studying southwestern anthropology and archaeology at the University of New Mexico. She graduated from Stanford in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and a minor in history. She returned to Arizona and began exploring northern Arizona and writing for Arizona Highways magazine.
In 1956 Joan married Cooney Jeffers, a cattleman. They lived on a 100-section cow/calf ranch south of Holbrook. She wrote about those years in her book “Ranch Wife” (by Jo Jeffers), published by Doubleday in 1964. In 1965, she moved to Pinetop, her primary residence ever since. She made her living writing, editing, teaching part time as associate faculty at Northland Pioneer college and working for the USDA Forest Service as a lookout during fire seasons. She married western author J.P.S. Brown in 1966 and was blessed with two step-children Paula and Bill Brown. In 1975 she married horse trainer Mario Baeza. They ended their marriage amicably in 1981.
In 1981, at the age of 50, Joan began her newspaper career writing for the White Mountain Independent. In 1999 she received Arizona Highways Silver Award for her story “Springtime in the Mountains,” and she has received five first-place awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association for columns in the Independent. In 2001 she received the Sharlot Hall Award from Prescott’s Sharlot Hall Museum for her work in preserving Arizona history and culture through her writing. In 2006 she was named “Culturekeeper” by the Arizona Historical Foundation.
She self-published “Eagles at Noon,” a collection of poems, in 2011. Her territorial history, “Arizona; the Making of a State,” was published in 2012 as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project, sponsored by the Arizona Historical Advisory Board. Arcadia Press published her latest book “Pinetop-Lakeside” as part of its “Images of America” series. As the consummate writer, Joan continued to talk about her next story and books until just before passing.
Joan last visited New Ulm when she served as Grand Marshal in the Germanic-American Day Parade opening Oktoberfest in 2013. As recently as the fall of 2018 Joan donated several pieces of historic furniture from the old Dacotah hotel to the Brown County Historical Society.
Joan contracted scleroderma, a debilitating disease. As the disease affected her, she became more limited in her ability to do the things she loved. Always a picture of grace and compassion, even in her suffering Joan prayed for her friends and caregivers before herself.
A memorial service was held November 29 in St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church in Pinetop. Joan’s dear friend, Fr. Bill Day officiated. Her ashes will be interred in the Johnson Family plot at the New Ulm City Cemetery at a future date. Memorials are preferred to the Brown County Historical Society.
~~~~~~~~~~
Parents: Norman & Geraldine (McCormick)Johnson
Grandparents: Frederick & Emma (Seiter) Johnson
Great Grandparents Adolph & Helena (Erd) Seiter
