Joan Prescott Gould

Joan Prescott Gould Joan Prescott Gould, 87 passed away on January 25th, 2020 in San Luis Obispo, CA. She was born on Armistice Day in Providence, Rhode Island to parents Anne and Dan Prescott. True to her spirit and love of humor, she always proclaimed "My father always said I was born the day they declared peace and there has been war ever since." Joan dearly loved her father. She was the son he didn't have and took her with him to Yankee baseball games and Brown University basketball games. And there began her love for sports. Women's school sports in those years were non-existent. She golfed with the men and even hit a whole-in-one once. Joan was an avid skier, loved tennis and was a forever Laker fan. How peculiar she should pass just hours from the passing of her most favorite Laker, the talented Kobe Bryant. While most 25 year old women in the 1950's were thinking of marriage and family, Joan chose to cross the Atlantic by ship and explore Europe for 3 months. She spent a month skiing the Austrian Alps, explored much of Europe, met people from all over the world, visited museums, shared meals with locals, and immersed herself in their life and culture. And that is just the beginning of her adventurous spirit. She then found employment with one of the most famous (then and now) advertising agencies in New York City- Young & Rubicam on Madison Ave. Oh the stars she met! Eager to stretch her wings she headed west and landed a job at Timberline Ski Resort on Mt. Hood in Oregon. When the snow was deep, she skied out the 3rd floor room of the lodge to start her day on the slope. While skiing in Colorado, she met and later married William (Bill) Stanley Gould Jr. They lived briefly in Boulder Colorado where their son Mark was born and then on to Santa Ana California where their family grew to five with the birth of their twins Lisa & Lynn. Shortly after, Joan and Bill moved to Carbondale, Illinois where Bill taught in the design department at SIU. Eager to live a simpler life, in 1972 they sold everything and traveled across the United States to find their new home. They had no jobs and no idea where they would settle. They were bold, brave and thankfully naïve to the challenge. Joan and Bill found a remote property at the base of a mountain in northwest Montana and paid $100 an acre. The family single handedly built a cabin on 200 wooded acres and did their best to live off the land by selectively harvesting the timber and growing their own fruits and vegetables. Living in remote rural Eureka, Montana posed many challenges but it provided rich experiences and memories for Joan and the family. Joan gardened, canned, baked and also found time to type the entire local newspaper weekly. Joan was a devoted mother to her three active children and later "The best Nana ever" to their children. She was a talented writer; for many years she kept a journal and was drawn to people and their interesting stories. She once worked for a leading fly fisherman in Gardner Montana typing and editing his work for his monthly publication. All this doesn't come close to what she really accomplished; she touched so many lives with her kindness, humor, and generosity. Coffee and humorous cards- she saw how it connected people; it made them laugh and brought them together. She was adored by her six grandchildren- Brandi, Autumn, Madison, Megan, Jenna and Jessica. Her qualities apparent and unique in each of these fine women. She was an inspiration to many and she brought laughter, sunshine and a smile to all who were fortunate enough to meet her. She will be so dearly missed but her spirit lives forever in all of us.