COERVER, Joan

Joan ‘Joy’ (Prost) Coerver Joan ‘Joy’ (Prost) Coerver, longtime resident of St. Charles County, died suddenly, but peacefully, on Tuesday, April 27, 2011, of a stroke. She was 84. Joy was born in St. Louis, but was raised in St. Paul, Mo. She was one of seven children born to the late John P. and Mary Z. Prost. She attended Francis Howell High School (Class of 1943), where she starred on the women’s basketball team. She graduated from Fontbonne College in 1950 on the say day as her sisters Zoe and Mary Hortense. It was while there that she met her future husband, Paul G. Coerver, on a blind date. They were married on August 13, 1950. Joy pursued a career in education. At age 16, she took her first teaching job at a one-room schoolhouse in St. Charles County. After living briefly in Texas with her husband and young family, the Coervers returned to Missouri and settled in Troy, where her husband purchased a pharmacy. She taught music and band at several public schools in the region, including Buchanan High School in Troy, and in the Wentzville and Forth Zumwalt School Districts. Joy was awarded a Master’s Degree in Education from Lindenwood College in 1979. For a brief time, she taught French on the elementary level at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles. She returned to college in the late 1980’s to become certified in Home Economics, which she taught at St. Mary’s Academy in O’Fallon. Long after she retired from teaching children, she continued to share her love of sewing by teaching clothing construction to adults at Florissant Valley Community College and St. Charles County Community College. Joy was an accomplished musician and played several instruments. She served as the organist at St. Cletus and St. Peter Parish, both in St. Charles, and volunteered to play the organ for Mass at the Charlevoix Nursing Home in St. Charles. A devout Catholic, Joy was an ardent supporter of the Pro-Life movement and served as the director of the Birthright Office in St. Charles in the early 1980’s. She was a charter member of the American Sewing Guild (ASG) and held several position on the St. Louis chapter board of the ASG. Joy enjoyed attending monthly meetings of two neighborhood ASG groups in St. Charles County. She also met her Francis Howell classmates every month for breakfast at a local restaurant. Joy took pleasure in playing bridge several times a month, including the morning she died. As a tissue donor, Joy continued to give of herself even in death, providing hope for others in need. Joy is survived by her husband of 60 years, daughters Regina (David) Cottrell, Carol (Michael) Bauer, Renee (Michael) Devine, and sons Timothy (Nancy), Brian (Francine) and Patrick (Sherri) Coerver, 15 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. She is also survived by one sister, Mary Hortense (Prost) Oenbrink, of Beaufort, S.C. She was preceeded in death by two grandchildren. A viewing will be held on Saturday, April 30, from 9 to 11 a.m., at Ss. Joachim and Ann Parish, St. Charles, followed immediately by the Mass of Christian Burial at 11 a.m. A private burial will take place on Monday at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that you consider a gift to Birthright, 205 North Fifth Street, Suite 307, St. Charles, Mo, 63301, or to the Care Food Pantry at Saints Joachim and Ann Parish, 4116 McClay Road, St. Charles, Mo, 63304

COERVER, Joan

April 26, 2011