Joan Frances Washington Nabors

Joan Frances Washington Nabors passed away on April 7, 2025, after a long battle with dementia. She was born October 27, 1936, in Minneapolis Minnesota to Charles and Johnnie Washington. In 1945, her mother, Johnnie, passed away when Joan was only 8 years old. After her mother’s passing, Joan spent her early years attending school in Tuskeegee, Alabama where she lived with her aunt Orie May Flood (Auntie), and summers in Dayton, Ohio with her father. Upon graduation from high school Joan attended Ohio University where she graduated in 1958 with a B.S. in Child Development – Family Living. She later went on and received her M.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Utah in 1984. If you knew Joan, you knew she had a passion for teaching and a passion for children. She taught preschool in Highland Park, Illinois for three years prior to moving to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1961 after getting married to her husband, Charles J Nabors Jr.

Joan continued her work as an educator after moving to Salt Lake. She trained daycare and Head Start teachers and developed a multicultural diversity curriculum for several school districts in the Salt Lake Valley. Shortly after working with Head Start, she was a preschool teacher at Holiday Preschool. In 1983, Joan co-founded the Salt Lake Institute for Learning where she enjoyed teaching children from kindergarten to the eighth grade until she made the decision to close the school in June of 2000. Joan had a profound impact on her students and many of them continued to stay in touch with her after the school closed. One student interviewed Joan in 2009, 10 years after he had graduated from the Salt Lake Institute and as the interview was coming to a finish, he said, “Joan has had a major influence not only on my life, but also on many people’s. I tell Joan that she has, in no uncertain terms, changed this world for the better.” Another student came to visit Joan in 2024 and told Joan that she (Joan) was the reason this former student became a writer. Joan’s influence and love of teaching will never be forgotten.

In addition to teaching, Joan started her Storytelling career in the early 1970’s. She along with a very close friend, created an interracial team and developed an African storytelling program to introduce children of all ages to the wonderful legends and folklore of Africa. They presented in libraries, classrooms and other venues. In 1990, Joan went to Kenya with a close family friend and her two sons and collected stores from women and children in the Nyeri district that she brought back and continued to share with children and adults whenever possible. Joan was a member of the National Association of Black Storytellers and in 2023 she received an award honoring the esteemed elders of the organization

Part of being a teacher for Joan was being part of the change. For Joan, being active in civil and political rights helped her be that change. It was about being responsible and doing her part to ensure people were treated fairly. Shortly after getting married and looking for housing in Salt Lake, Joan and her husband were denied housing because of the color of their skin. She was determined to do her part and help to change the narrative. Giving back to the community was also important to Joan and she continued to teach her children that giving back to your community in anyway, even if it seemed small, was an important part of who they are and what they stand for. Joan’s greatest love was spending time with family and her many friends, there were no social occasions or holidays she didn’t enjoy celebrating. She loved to entertain and loved to throw a party.

We want to thank the Wellington Senior Living facility and Canyon Home Health and Hospice for taking such amazing care of our mom over these past few days and weeks. To the team at Canyon, Erika, Mia, Terra, Stephanie, Aubrie, Nicol, Sarah and all the others who were there for mom and us, we say Thank You for what you do every day. You helped us to understand and navigate the difficult journey of dementia. The outpouring of love from both the Wellington and Canyon teams has been comforting during this difficult time.

Joan was preceded in death by her mother, father and stepmother, her husband and other family and friends. She is survived by her three children, Brian, Kelley and Matthew. We will miss you mama.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that you donate in her name to Utah Food Bank, Home – Equality Utah, Utah Chapter | Alzheimer’s Association, or the charity of your choice.

A celebration of life for Joan will be held on Saturday April 26th from 4 pm to 6 pm at Starks Funeral Parlor, 3651 S 900 E, Salt Lake City. Guests are encouraged to use the parking and entrance on the north side of the building.