Joan M. Hilkemeier

Joan M. Hilkemeier, 77, of Kimball, died at the Kimball County Manor on Thursday, January 16, 2014. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at the Trinity United Methodist Church in Kimball with Pastor Carla Gunn officiating. Inurnment will be held in the Kimball Cemetery following the service. The family will greet friends at the funeral home on Monday from 1:00 until 4:00 p.m. Friends may visit http://www.cantrellfh.com to leave condolences for the family and view Joan's Life Tribute page. Memorials have been established to the Kimball County Manor or Trinity United Methodist Church The family has entrusted the services for Joan to Cantrell Funeral Home.

Joan Marie Hilkemeier was born in Cherokee, Iowa on October 8, 1936, the daughter of Reginald and Evelyn (Schnell) Hantsbarger. She was raised and attended school in Cherokee and graduated from the Cherokee High School in 1954. She attended nurses training in Sioux City, Iowa and received her nursing degree in 1956. She was married to Donald Hilkemeier on December 29, 1956 in Cherokee, Iowa. The family lived in California while Don served in the Marines. After returning to Kimball Joan worked at Kimball Health Services as a registered nurse. In 1959 their first child Janet was born and then a son Richard in 1960. Richard appeared healthy at birth but complication developed and Richard died at three weeks of age. The couple had two more children, Robert in 1961 and Jill in 1964. In 1968 shortly after the Kimball County Manor was built Joan joined the nursing staff as their charge nurse and was going to work for only 6 month to help get the facility started. In 1975 Joan was named the Director of Nursing and in 1993 she received recognition for 25 years of service. She continued serving the residents until her retirement in 1998. Joan was very active in her church and sang with the Trinity United Methodist Church Choir for a number of years, she also served in the church bell choir. She also sang for many weddings and funerals in the Kimball community.