Joan was born the daughter of Paul and Chleo Haines Hopka on September 2, 1940 in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. She was raised and educated in Pine Bluffs and graduated from Pine Bluffs High School in 1958. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 1978 and received her Masters degree in Computer Education from the University of Northern Iowa in 1994. Joan was united in marriage to Roger Hammelman on February 19, 1961 at Grace Lutheran Church in Pine Bluffs, Wyoming and to this union was born their sons Douglas and Daniel and their daughter Tracie. The couple moved to Tama, Iowa in 1962 and then to Grinnell in 1968, where Joan taught Business Education and Computer Applications at the Grinnell Middle School for sixteen years. The couple then moved to Flower Mound, Texas, where she was an educator for three years in the Grapevine School system, before moving to Celina, Texas in 2001 and to Burnsville, Minnesota in 2003. The couple has since resided in Urbandale, Iowa. Joan was a member of the Immanuel Lutheran Church and played a key role in the church's origination. She was a very driven person and was a leader among her peers. She spent much of her life improving the lives of others by being the positive person she was. She enjoyed the peace and tranquility when the family would go boating. The couple traveled together and enjoyed the comfort of their friends and family. Joan is survived by her husband Roger of Urbandale; her sons Douglas Hammelman of Lake Ponderosa, Iowa and Daniel (Lori) Hammelman of Clive, Iowa; her daughter Tracie Hammelman of Houston, Texas; two grandchildren, Nathan and Erika Hammelman; and her sister Claryce Sargent of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. Joan passed away Monday, November 7, 2005 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her parents; and her brothers Edwin, Malford, Orville and Malvin, who died in infancy.