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- Des Moines Register
June 14, 2011
Joellyn was born in Fargo, ND on May 17, 1951 to her parents, Merlin and Lois Borke. Joellyn passed away on June 11, 2011 at the Kavanagh House in Des Moines following a courageous battle with cancer.
She lived in Lisbon, ND until 1963 when her family moved to Ames, IA. She graduated from Ames High School in 1969 and Iowa State University in 1973 with a BA in Education.
Joellyn moved to Des Moines in the late 70's and went to work for Polk County, working with the Polk County Youth Shelter, beginning her 31 years career with DHS. She ended her career with DHS in May 2010 working with the Adoption Unit. She spent the majority of her life working with and for the children of Iowa. During her career with DHS, she received many certificates of recognition and appreciation for her dedicated service. In June 2006, she was awarded the Golden Dome Award for DHS Leader of the Year Award Recipient Social Worker Supervisor.
During her life, Joellyn collected many titles and was a member of many diverse groups of friends: wife, mother, daughter, sister, Hanawalt mom, Roosevelt mom, soccer mom, scrapbooker, DHS coworker and Ames girl with both a Central and Welch group of friends that remained closed all these years. Joellyn ran and completed a Drake Marathon, rode in RAGBRAI in the early years and was a proud member of the Wetlicks, a softball team sponsored by the Waveland.
Joellyn married Joe Hostetter in 1971 and later divorced. She married John Johnston in May 1990 and they had two children, Karrah and Derek. Her life was centered around her family. Her passions in life included her family, friends, photography, scrapbooking and card making. Joellyn made her "trip of a lifetime" to Norway last summer with her sister and their daughters.
She is survived by her husband, John; children, Karrah and Derek; her parents, Merlin and Lois Borke of Bismarck, ND; brothers, Mark (Jana) of Denver, CO, Norin (Robin) of Beaumont, TX; sister, Pam of Stevensville, MT; mother-in-law, Ruth Johnston of Winona, MN; brothers-in-law, Jeff of Des Moines, Kevin (Kimberly) and Joel of Las Vegas, NV; and sister-in-law, Julie (Patrick) of Winona, MN; numerous nieces and nephews and all of her many friends and coworkers she gathered over the last 60 years!
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1951 - 2011 (60 years)
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