Joan M. Brown, age 91 of Morton, passed away peacefully Saturday, January 15, 2022 at Cannon River Senior Living Memory Care Unit in Cannon Falls.  Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, August 5, 2022 at Redwood Valley Funeral Home in Redwood Falls.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.  Interment will be in the Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Morton. The family invites family and friends to join them at the Morton Park from 4:00-7:00 p.m. after the cemetery service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be given to the Morton Senior Center.  

Joan M. (Trochlil) Brown was born August 24, 1930 to Lloyd and Marie (Svobodny) Trochlil in Olivia, Minnesota before moving to Morton. She was a graduate of Morton High School. After graduation, Joan worked in Minneapolis for a brief time. She would hitchhike home on Fridays and hitchhike back to the cities on Sundays or Mondays. Joan and her husband Bob bought the Trees Night Club in 1952 and owned it until 1960. From the early 60’s to the early 70’s she was the editor and publisher of the Morton Reminder. In 1972 she started working for the Morton School as a secretary to the principal. While working at the school she became the mother all the kids could go to while at school. She continued working for the school until it closed in 1985 when they merged with the Redwood School District. She started working for the Redwood School District until the 90’s when she retired. But she never really retired. She worked as a server at the Valley Supper Club. She loved the job and talking with all her customers. When she was in her 80’s she helped run the Morton Senior Center, which was something she genuinely loved. Joan loved her plants and birds. She could sit out in her porch for hours and watch the birds.  Cardinals were her favorite. Bird experts will say that Cardinals are territorial, but she would have 6 pair hanging around her feeders in the winter. She would also have a dozen hummingbirds feeding at her feeders and another dozen waiting to get in. Her faith was especially important to her. She was a devout member of St. John’s Catholic Church in Morton. She taught religion classes and sang in the choir for many years. The family wants to thank the employees of the Memory Care Unit at Cannon River for keeping mother active and engaged and for their compassionate care these last few years as her Alzheimer’s Disease progressed. We would also like to thank the wonderful people of Morton who committed so many random acts of kindness helping our mother when she lived alone.

Joan leaves behind her daughter Becky (Bob) Shepard, and her sons, Patrick (Michelle) Brown, Jay (Debbie) Brown, Peter (Peggy) Brown and Tony (Jackie) Brown, 11 Grandchildren (Sam, Ben, Larissa, Ted, Carter, Amber, Heather, Megan, Holden, Abraham, and Dolan) and 6 Great Grandchildren (Sage, Julia, Shelby, Breckyn, Cooper, and Harper), her brother Bennett (Joan) Trochlil, her sister-in-law Lee Trochlil, and so many other family and friends. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Robert (Bob), her sister Sally Pietig, her brother Dennis Trochlil, her half-sisters Celia Malecek, and Martha Goblish.