Joan Bohlke Friberg passed away at the age of 85 on June 10th 2024 at her home at Bonaventure of Tri-Cities in Richland, WA. Joan was born in Prosser, Washington on January 12, 1939 to Lloyd and Pearl Bohlke of Grandview, Washington. During the 1940s, her family lived in Grandview, Olympia, Seattle and Yakima. They moved to a farm on the Roza near Prosser in 1950. They had a small dairy there where Joan helped with milking the cows every day. She also showed dairy cows for 4-H and was later a Yakima Valley Dairy Queen.
Joan graduated from Prosser High School in 1957. She attended Washington State College in Pullman , Washington, and was going to school there when it became Washington State University. She graduated from WSU in 1961 with a Bachelors Degree in teaching and home economics. She later earned a Master’s Degree from University of Washington, but remained a true Coug through and through!
After graduating from WSU, Joan moved to Puyallup, Washington. She taught home ec at Puyallup High School in her first year teaching. She then moved to Aylen Junior High where she remained for the rest of her teaching career. She retired from teaching in 1991 after a 30 year career.
Joan met her husband Phil Friberg, when he sold her a refrigerator at an appliance store in Tacoma. They were married on January, 27 1984. She gained a stepdaughter, Jennifer, when they got married. Their son Chris was born in December of 1984.
After retiring from teaching, Joan volunteered at Chris’ school and also worked at a Viking Sewing Machine store in Puyallup. In July of 1994, they moved from Puyallup back to Joan’s childhood home of Prosser.
Joan worked at The Golden Rule store in Prosser until it closed. She then substitute taught in the Prosser School District until 2002. She became very involved as a parent in Chris’ 4-H club. She also was a member of a bunco club with several other moms with kids Chris’ age. Being retired, Joan and Phil never missed any of Chris’ baseball, basketball or football games whether home or away.
Joan was very involved with the Lower Valley Retired Teachers group, as well as the Washington State School Retirees Association. She attended Covenant Presbyterian Church in Prosser and always loved volunteering to greet or host the social hour after church on Sundays. She volunteered regularly at Jubilee Ministries in Prosser.
Joan always loved seeing her grandkids, and would help to babysit them for as long as she was able to. She deeply loved her family and kept up with her siblings over the phone on a regular basis. She could find common ground with anyone and was always ready to strike up a conversation.
Joan was preceded in death by her husband Phil, her parents Lloyd and Pearl and her brother David.
Joan is survived by her son Chris (Carla) Friberg, Stepdaughter Jennifer (Dan) Menzel and 4 grandchildren - Reese and Brenna Menzel and Benjamin and Kate Friberg. She also leaves behind her siblings Peter (Scherion) Bohlke, Tovi (Norm) Harris and Wendy (Brian) Bohlke.
Memorial contributions in Joan’s honor can be made to Prosser Covenant Presbyterian Church (912 Yakima Ave, Prosser, 509-786-1594) or Jubilee Ministries (1429 Stacey Rd, Prosser, 509-786-3033).
A memorial service for Joan will be held at Prosser Covenant Presbyterian Church ( 912 Yakima Ave, Prosser, WA) on June 29th, 2024 at 11AM.