Joan Flaat

Joan Flaat, 88, Grand Forks, ND passed away Friday, September 9, 2011 in Grand Forks. Joan was born April 12, 1923 in Grand Forks, ND. She grew up in Noyes, MN and attended school at Emerson, Manitoba, the Northwest School of Agriculture at Crookston, MN and the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, MN She married Odney V. Flaat on July 15, 1944. They moved to Grand Forks where they lived and farmed. Joan was active in many community and service organizations. Some included Girl Scouts, Grand Forks Kennel Club, RRV Hospice, RRV Potato Growers Assn., Grand Forks Horticultural Society and Chapter AY of PEO. She was awarded the title Top Aggie for her work at the Northwest School of Agriculture alumni house at the Crookston campus of University of Minnesota. She was a member of United Lutheran Church. Her lifelong passion revolved around gardening native wildflowers and prairie grasses which resulted in her becoming a Master Gardener. Joan is survived by her daughters, Susan F. Tucker (Jesse Cooper, fiancé), Colorado Springs, CO, Cathy (Jerry) Forgit, Fertile, MN and Lisa (Stan) Ferguson, Fargo, ND; brother, Robert (Darlene) Phillips, Minneapolis, MN; four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Myrtle Phillips; husband, Odney Flaat, and a brother, Frank Phillips.