Our still beautiful classmate, Joan Bischoff Lanning, completed her heavenly "graduation" just after the turn of the 2020 New Years and days into 2021.  She passed away in what is believed to have been a diabetic coma.  A family member passed on permission for her former classmates to be notified.  No other details are known at this time.  As a salute to her, and the efforts she made towards putting together occasional class luncheons we WILL share with you Joan's synopsis of her life that she wrote in her profile on our website and a photo she proudly posted of herself with her grandson.  Joan, you were loved by many:

I moved from my parents home in 1969 to my very own apt., started smoking cigarettes and doing all of the things I wasn't allowed to do at home!  I worked as a ward clerk @ Deaconess hospital for a period of two years, and then moved to Wichita, Kansas with my first husband, who was an air traffic controller.  His job promotion led us to Arlington, Tx. where we began our family.  I was a stay at home mom and very happy to be able to be with my boys, David and Josh.  After the infamous Air Traffic Controllers strike in 1981, we bought a business in Ft. Worth, Texas and ran that for two years before moving back to Washington State, because my mother was very ill. We then bought another distributorship in Moses Lake, Wa. and ran it for two years before selling it and moving to Ferndale, Wa.  We lived in Ferndale for a period of seven years, and loved it there.  I was employed there by an interior designer and worked part time with her.  I also developed my own designs in wood and marketed them under The Country Parlor Collection.  I sold my work in magazines, and found that it wasn't very gratifying doing a thousand angels at one time to fulfill orders. There isn't any creativity in mass production!  My husband was working for the State Patrol at that time and was transferred to Spokane for a period of six months.  Our marriage fell apart during that stressful period of our lives, and we divorced after 25 years of marriage.  I had to quickly figure out a way to support myself, and used my inheritance to go to a school for electrolysis.  After getting my training I started my shop in Deer Park, and then moved it to Spokane, where I nearly starved for two years, building my clientele.  I then decided to go back to school to get my aesthetics license (skin care), and two years later went to Dallas, Tx. three times for training in permanent cosmetics.  I love permanent cosmetics and feel very priviledged to change the way people look.  My sign on the Newport Highway reads, "The Queen of eyebrows lives here", and I do!  Five years ago, I met my current husband, Jeff Lanning, and married him three years ago.  Jeff is a general contractor, and we shared a dream of building and owning our own log home.  We moved into our log home a year and a half ago, and we have a hard time leaving it!  Jeff is an avid hunter, and the house is filled with critters, including deer, elk, two bears, a cougar, and an alligator that he killed during my last permanent cosmetics convention in Orlando.  Next year is the big moose hunt in the Yukon.  I've been invited to go along, but I think I'll take another vacation with my sister, to somewhere warm...anywhere but Mexico!  We were there last fall while the drug lords and federalies were at war, and I have never felt so unsafe in my life. Other than travel, we enjoy fishing, golfing, and dancing.  David and Josh have given us three wonderful grandchildren, and we are totally devoted to spoiling them and making them happy.  Life is good!  Hope to see a big turn out at Twigs this summer!