Joan Elaine Lawler, (née Hayden) 85, of Foley, Minn., died April 22 at the Foley Nursing Center.
She was born in St. Paul to George and Dorothy (Roberts) Hayden at the home of her paternal grandmother, Mary Vogele Hayden. She attended Lauderdale Grade School, Murray High School and the University of Minnesota, where she studied to become a medical technologist, graduating in 1952.
She married Val Lawler on Sept. 20, 1952, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in St. Paul. They had one child, Mark Stephen, born June 28, 1953. He preceded her in death due to cancer at age 41.
Joan worked at various hospitals in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area during the polio epidemic. In later years she worked as a veterinary technologist, volunteered on numerous blood drives, farmed, owned her own veterinary supply business and raised sheep. She was a Cub Scout and 4-H Club leader for many years and volunteered at her church.
She is survived by her grandson; two great-grandsons; and siblings, Dorothy (Robert) McCarthy of Roseville and Mary (Robert) Carlson of Foley; and daughter-in-law, Laurie (Mark) Lawler, Annandale. Memorial Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated April 30 at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Annandale.