Joan R. Wyatt, R.N., died peacefully at her home in Coupeville Oct. 24, 2014, at the age of 92. She was born in Plummer, Idaho, to Fred and Gladys (Muzzall) Robertson. Joan grew up in Plummer, graduating from Plummer High School and then went on to Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing in Spokane. She played basketball as a young student.

Joan graduated with a Registered Nurse degree. She accepted her first nursing position in Colorado Springs, Colo., and then went on to Indianapolis. She decided to return to the Northwest and settled in Seattle, where she worked at Harborview Medical Center, Virginia Mason and Firland T.B. Sanatorium in North Seattle. She reconnected with a friend from Plummer, and soon she and John Wyatt were married.

Joan and John had a plan to become a commercial fishing team. They lived on a houseboat on Lake Union and fished the area of LaPush to Port Angeles in their trawler. In 1956, they decided they wanted to begin their family and Seattle was not the place to have their children grow up. They visited several locations before deciding on Whidbey Island. They really liked the idea of having their family grow up in such a beautiful area. Joan and John purchased property near the Captain Whidbey Inn, and 57 years later, it is still home. For a time, she served as camp nurse at Camp Casey during the summer camping events.

Joan was hired by Whidbey General Hospital as the surgical nursing director for the hospital shortly after it opened in 1970 and spent the next 17 years in that position. She became a pioneer in advanced health care on Whidbey Island. John died suddenly in 1975 and Joan was left to raise five children as a single parent.

Joan retired from nursing in 1986. She had a passion, and over the years, developed a huge garden complex at home. She also grew fuchsias and became an expert on them. She received certification as a master gardener and was a member of the North Cascade Fuchsia Society. She was a pioneer in organic gardening, experimented with plant grafting, was a beekeeper, an excellent cook and believed that you should eat what you grow. She was always canning goods from her garden.

Joan loved following baseball and especially her beloved Mariners. She would gather her own scoring sheets and record every moment of each game she listened to or watched. Joan’s passion was the out-of-doors. She loved being out in the fresh air. She also developed a love of hunting that had been instilled in her by her father as a young child.

Joan requested no formal funeral services be conducted. Cremation was held with private family inurnment to follow at a later date. Please visit Joan’s page in the Book of Memories hosted at www.wallinfuneralhome.com to share memories and condolences.