Obituary of Joan Swick

Joan Marie Hyatt Swick died peacefully in Burlington, Colorado on April 30, 2016 at the age of 79. Joan is survived by her husband John Swick of Burlington and daughter Cheryl Espinoza and son-in-law Rudy of Denver, Colorado and her son Mark Flora-Swick and daughter-in-law Jane Flora-Swick of Gardner, Kansas. Grandchildren include: Micah Flora-Swick of Olathe, Kansas; Rachel Flora-Swick of Kansas City, Missouri; Rebekah Flora-Swick of Kansas City, Missouri; Elizabeth Flora-Swick of Siloam Springs, Arkansas; Hannah Flora-Swick of Springfield, Missouri; Madeline Espinoza of Fort Worth, Texas; Nicholas Espinoza of Delta Junction, Alaska and many nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents Ellis William Hyatt and Susie Marie Gremm Hyatt of Broken Bow, Nebraska and by a nephew Brian Matthew Keller. Joan was born on February 27th 1937 on the family farm near Ansley, Nebraska. She was the second of three children, Irvin Hyatt of Broken Bow, Nebraska and Donna Keller of Buffalo, Wyoming. Joan attended Broken Bow high school graduating with the class of 1954. Joan married John Clark Swick, her high school sweetheart, on June 6, 1954 at the EUB Church in Broken Bow. They met while both working at the Ben Franklin Store in Broken Bow. The couple lived in Holdrege, Nebraska, Sydney, Nebraska and Torrington, Wyoming. They moved to Burlington, Colorado when they bought the Ben Franklin store in 1965. Joan was an accomplished musician and directed the choir at First Christian Church in Burlington for 18 years. She directed the cherub choir and performed in many cantatas and fellowship dinners programs. She shared her passion for music with countless piano students and accompanied the high school choir for many years. She loved to act and enjoyed being part of Neighborhood Players and performed in Barefoot in the Park, Winter Chicken and R.R. Hood. She performed in On Golden Pond in Burlington and at the Bonfils Theatre in Denver. She earned equity status in her performance as an actress in the University of Northern Colorado’s production of The Music Man. In 1989 Joan and John moved to Denver and she was employed for the Colorado State Board of Education and received acknowledgement from Gov. Roy Romer for her work on the development of the first K-12 statewide model content academic standards. When Governor Owens took office, Joan moved to the Governor’s Office of Innovation and Technology where she worked as an executive assistant for seven years. She retired in 2003 and moved back to Burlington where she enjoyed playing duplicate bridge with her friends. Joan will be remembered as John’s bride of 62 years, a loving mother and proud grandmother. The family would like to thank the members of First Christian Church for their prayers and support and Dr. Wayne Hoppe and the staff at Kit Carson Memorial Hospital for their dedicated care.