Obituary: Joan Snook Timm

July 24, 1929 ~ March 4, 2021

Joan Snook Timm, 91, formerly of Sister Bay, Wisconsin, died peacefully late Thursday night, March 4, 2021 in the comfort of her home in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, where she had been residing the past four years, with her husband, Henry, at her side. 

She was born July 24, 1929 in Princeton, New Jersey. Joan’s father, Edward B. Snook, served in the United States Army in France in World War I. Her mother, Helen (Stout) Snook, derived from the same Stout heritage as William Huff Stout, for whom the University of Wisconsin-Stout is named. 

Joan attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts where she earned a B.A. in Art and Art History. She earned an M.S. at Wheelcock College in Boston, Massachusetts and an Ed. D. in Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Joan taught at Wheelcock College before moving to Wisconsin where she served as Chair of the Educational Foundations Department at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. While teaching there, she received the Edward M. Penson Distinguished Teaching Award and other honors including the John McNaughton Rosebush Professorship (award) for outstanding teaching, research, and service. 

As an independent artist, Joan sold her paintings in Boston and Wisconsin. She authored two books: Four Perspectives in Multicultural Education (published by Wadsworth) and with Henry C. Timm, Athena’s Mirror; Moral Reasoning in Poetry, Short Story and Drama. Joan also published over thirty articles in professional journals. 

She and her husband, Henry C. Timm, retired to Door County, Wisconsin in 2000 and enjoyed teaching winter classes on film, together, at The Clearing in Ellison Bay from 2002 to 2017. They were members of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Sister Bay. 

Joan will be missed by her husband, Henry C. Timm; her two daughters and son, M. Jeanne Thrower Aguilar of Boulder, CO, Annie (Robert Patterson) Thrower-Patterson of Washington, D.C., and Eden Thrower of Aurora, IL; two stepchildren, Triffin Timm (Gregory) Morris of New York, NY and Simon Christopher (Allyson McKinney Timm) Timm of Washington, D.C.; three grandchildren, Xavier Aguilar, Genevieve Aguillar (Matt) Reardon, and Oscar Patterson; one step-granddaughter, Abigail Morris; two great-grandsons, Teddy and Luke Reardon; sister-in-law, Pamela Melendy of Green Bay; other relatives; and friends. 

She was preceded in death by her parents; and brother-in-law, Bob Melendy. 

Arrangements are pending for Joan’s life to be honored with a memorial service at later date – to be announced. She will be laid to rest in the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Memorial Garden in Sister Bay. 

Casperson Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Sister Bay is assisting the Timm family. Expressions of sympathy, memories, and photos of Joan may be shared with her family through her tribute page at www.caspersonfuneralhome.com.