North Texas Boston Terrier Club - Memorials
In Loving Memory of our dear BT friends...
It is with great sadness that I write this. One of our most treasured club members and tireless volunteers, Joan Pasek, passed away unexpectedly Tuesday, November 4th. Joan was a member of our rescue committee and rarely missed a club meeting.
She planned all of our fundraising picnics. If you ever attended a picnic you saw Joan collecting donations, making announcements, or helping with contests and games.
Joan loved Boston Terriers, and she would cuddle and love each one that came to our meetings. Joan and her husband Marv hosted our last Christmas party at their beautiful home in Irving. Joan treated everyone with respect and she was much loved by many.
I, for one, can never attend another meeting or club function without thinking of her and wishing she were still with us.
~Valerie Fontenot
Her obituary is below:
Joan Pasek, nurse and member of floral-arrangement group, dies at 68
12:00 AM CST on Sunday, November 9, 2008
By DEBORAH FLECK / The Dallas Morning News dfleck@dallasnews.com
Joan Pasek traveled around the world as a Navy nurse. Part of her service occurred during the Vietnam War. Throughout her career, she had tours of duty from Subic Bay in the Philippines to Long Beach in California to Yokosuka and Okinawa in Japan.
Joan Pasek of Irving presented programs on ikebana, Japanese floral arrangement. While in Japan, Mrs. Pasek fell in love with ikebana, the Japanese art of floral arrangement. She brought that passion with her when she and husband Marvin Pasek moved to Irving about 20 years ago. She was an active member of the Dallas chapter of Ikebana International and twice served as its president.
The arts patron, praised by many as a vital part of the Irving community, died unexpectedly Tuesday. She was 68.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. today at Brown's Memorial Funeral Home, 707 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Irving. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, 2000 Mountain Creek Pkwy.
"Her love of nature, flowers and people carved out a special place in the heart of all the people she met," said Brian Dalton, president of Ikebana International Dallas Chapter 13. "She had a genuine spirit and enormous enthusiasm for the many activities she was involved in."
Mrs. Pasek was born in Omaha, Neb. She started her Navy career in the 1960s and served for 20 years. After retirement, she and her husband lived briefly in Illinois before settling in Texas. But she didn't stay retired for long.
In the late 1980s, she became a home health care nurse for the Irving Healthcare System. In 1996, she was named one of the Great 100 Nurses by the Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital Council.
In an interview, Mrs. Pasek said she was touched by that honor, especially because it was determined through votes by her peers.
When she finally did retire from nursing, she stayed involved in the health industry by working part time for Nikken, an international manufacturer of wellness products.
Her part-time work allowed her to delve into the arts and the Irving-area community. She was devoted not only to the ikebana chapter but also to Lyric Stage. She served on the Lyric Stage League Board and along with her husband raised funds for the professional musical theater company.
Her other activities included serving as treasurer of the Dallas Chapter of the Military Order of World Wars and volunteering for a Boston terrier rescue organization. At one point, she and her husband owned three Boston terriers.
She was a longtime member of the Las Colinas Professional Women's Network.
"Her enthusiasm, passion and caring will be missed by all," said friend Mary Holdcroft, who founded the network. Earlier this year, Mrs. Pasek presented a program on ikebana to the women's group.
In addition to her husband, survivors include half-brothers Brian Becklun and John Smith, both of Nebraska. Her twin brother, John J. Becklun, and half-brother Bob Smith preceded her in death. Memorial contributions may be made to any of the groups to which she belonged.
