Joan E. Schrank

Joan E. Schrank, 92, Deaconess, pastor’s wife, preschool teacher, church secretary, handicrafter and grandmother extraordinaire, passed peacefully on October 11, 2024 in South Jordan, UT. She lived in Buffalo with her parents and sister until she attended Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, IN where she graduated and was ordained as a Deaconess of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.

During the summer of 1950 while serving as a Children’s Camp Counselor at Lutheran Camp Pioneer near Angola, NY she met her future husband, Robert Schrank. After two summers at camp, they spent the summer of 1952 together, studying at Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN (Joan’s alma mater). Upon her graduation (January 1953), she worked as a deaconess at the Lutheran Children’s Home in Addison, IL.

Joan and Bob married on June 13, 1954 at Bethany Lutheran Church in Buffalo, NY. During their 65 years of marriage, the Lord blessed them with five children: Dorel, Stephen, Michael, Robert, and Andrew. Her family grew to include 11 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

Joan moved with her husband to Guatemala as a missionary. After eight years in Guatemala, she went with her family to El Paso, TX where her husband was called to develop a Hispanic ministry. She lived in El Paso for 14 years before moving with her family to Salt Lake City, UT.

Joan served in her church as a secretary and a member of the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML), Good Shepherd Lutheran Homes, and other Lutheran organizations.

Joan was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a willing servant to others. She enjoyed bowling, singing in the church choir, crafting, being with family and playing board and card games with the family right up to the last few weeks or her earthly life with us. She is preceded in death by her husband, Bob, and her son, Michael. She is survived by her children Dorel G. Phillips (Scott), Stephen P. Schrank (Sandra), (KC-Michael’s wife), Robert J. Schrank, and Andrew P. Schrank (Lynn), grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held, Saturday, October 19, 2024, 10:00 a.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1030 South 500 East, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. Interment will follow at Memorial Holladay Cemetery, 4900 South Memory Lane, Holladay, Utah 84117 at 11:30. After the interment, there will be a luncheon at the church beginning at 12:30 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, Robert and his family would ask that you make a donation to Concordia University Wisconsin or the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML).

To make a donation, click one of the following links below:

Concordia University Wisconsin: Alfred and Constance Schrank Memorial Fund for Pastoral Ministry (follow the instructions for donating to an endowment) page=default https://www.cuw.edu/about/offices/advancement/giving/ways-to-give/online.cfm?page=default

Lutheran Women’s Missionary League.edu/…t/giving/ways-to-give/online.cfm  https://lwml.org

https://lwml.givingfuel.com/donate