BOULDER, Colo. — Joan Patricia Conover Schroeder, age 92, of Boulder, Colo., passed away peacefully at home with her son Kurt Schroeder at her side. She had experienced several months of progressively declining health. She was predeceased by her parents, Virgil Maurice Conover and Rhea Merna Kite Conover; her sister Marilyn Conover; and her husband of 54 years, Robert L. (Bob) Schroeder.
Joan was born in Augusta, Kan., graduated from Great Bend High School in Great Bend, Kan., and received a bachelor’s degree in biological science from Kansas State University where she was a member of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority. She studied and worked in the Henry Ford Hospital clinical laboratory and earned an master’s degree in medical technology from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Joan married Bob in 1953 after his stint in the U.S Navy. After spending three years in Wichita, Kan., they decided to seek out a life of adventure by planning a future overseas. To that end, they studied Spanish and foreign trade at the American Institute for Foreign Trade (then the Thunderbird School) in Glendale, Ariz., and Bob secured a position with the international division of Armco Steel. A year after their daughter was born, they moved to Maracaibo, Venezuela (then a 24-hour trip on a propeller airplane), and later moved to Caracas, Venezuela, where their son was born. Over a 25-year period, and due to Bob’s work, they also lived in Spain, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Australia. Joan and Bob became fluent in Spanish, traveled extensively overseas, and developed a great appreciation for Latin America.
They returned to the United States in 1984 and made a home in Boulder, where they enjoyed skiing, hiking, and bicycling. Joan was a member of the American Association of University Women and a long-time volunteer at the TRU hospice thrift store. She enjoyed theater, music, cooking, bridge and reading. She practiced tai chi and belonged to a Spanish literature book club. Until her late 80s, she was able to continue her life of adventure and activity with hikes in the mountains near Boulder and travels to the East Coast, California, and Hawaii.
Joan is survived by her daughter Ann (Lauren) Carpenter and husband Chris Carpenter of Cambridge, Mass.; son Kurt of Boulder; grandchildren Meredith Carpenter and husband Brian Fuglestad of Richmond, Va.; Russell Carpenter of Cambridge, Mass.; and great-granddaughter Ivy Carpenter of Richmond, Va. She is also survived by many cousins, as well as relatives of Bob with whom she was close, including Jerri Campbell of Boulder, Linda Rousseau-Geraldos of Chespaeake, Va., Carla Beydler of WaKeeney, Kan., and Nancy Winslow of Oregon City, Ore.
In accordance with Joan’s wishes there will be no formal service. Joan’s ashes will be scattered by her family at a later date.
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Nov. 2, 2022
