'Make a difference, change the game for the better, leave a legacy, be a guide that someone else can follow and make better, and then someone else will follow that and make that better.'
Carlos Wallace
Joan Jurgens, known to us as 'Joan' passed away on October 19th, 2017 after a courageous battle with cancer. She joined us on August 2nd, 2001 and quickly became a beloved and active member. While most of us know her from her friendly and helpful posts in the forums, Joan worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help us become the respected and accurate gardening source of information that we are. She was a self-taught botanist and found her calling in our newly created PlantFiles all those years ago. Her contributions include:
6290 Plants
3914 Comments
1976 images
699 zipcode reports
295,491 Details
But that wasn't all that Joan was. She had a kind and caring heart that seemed to know who needed encouragement or a hand in friendship and that will be her sweetest legacy. Joan was a giver and always searched for a way to make a difference with kindness and love.
In a world where so many friendships are on-line only and people never meet in person, Joan decided to change that and she and her husband undertook an epic road trip to come face to face with many of us. I'm grateful to say that I was one of those folks and we spent a wonderful weekend laughing, cooking, telling stories and talking plants. I'll cherish those memories always.
Joan may be gone from this earth, but she leaves behind friends who care about her and a body of work to be proud of. She will be dearly missed.
