Joan Irene (Lang) Sears, 79, of Hyannis, Nebraska, passed away October 3, 2023, near Alliance as the result of a vehicle accident that also claimed the lives of her husband, Dr. Gary Sears, 82, and daughter Julie Rebecca (Darrell Lasky) Sears, 57.
Joan was born December 21, 1943, in New Jersey to Fred and Irene Lang. The family moved to Englewood, Colorado in 1951. Joan attended Colorado State University (CSU), where she met and married Gary shortly after graduating with honors with a degree in microbiology and medical technology.
While attending CSU, Joan was active in Kappa Gamma Sorority (past president), the Mortar Board, the Angel Flight (women’s) ROTC organization, among other campus groups. The grant-funded research during her senior year at CSU earned her recognition for break-through evidence and understanding of crown gall disease in plants as being virus-caused. Her experiments in exposing tomato plants to bacteria and virus cultures revealed the viral impacts.
Her intended research career after graduation was redirected when she married Gary, also recently graduated from veterinary school. They spent early years in Montana where Gary worked at various large animal clinics before they moved to the Nebraska Sandhills where he set up practice. Joan applied her many talents to whatever needed done while raising their two children, which included working in the business as bookkeeper, receptionist, occasional surgical assistant and – using her medical tech training – dosage consults when clients needed guidance and Gary was out on calls.
Joan was an active member of the All-Saints Altar Society in Hyannis, and volunteered countless hours in local organizations such as 4-H. She traveled hundreds of miles serving as a judge at dog shows throughout the region and was well known for the prodigious garden where she grew, canned and froze vegetables each year, including fermented successes with select varieties of grapes. She tried her hand at raising various animals, including rabbits and at least one pig.
She devoted pleasure time to knitting, playing bridge with her club, and dancing with her college sweetheart whenever they had the chance. Joan’s love of animals fueled an endless interest in all aspects of growing and caring for all living things.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Irene Lang. Joan is survived by son Greg (Jamie) of Rocklin, California and their children Reilly, Riordan, Reece and Raegan; son-in-law Darrel Lasky of Santa Rosa, California, granddaughters Jennifer and Jessica Luong Duong of Portland, Oregon, cousins Ken and Alan Schuster of New Jersey, and cousin Ed Sawicki of Santa Clara, California. Bates-Gould Funeral Home, Alliance, is handling final arrangements.
A memorial service for the family is set for October 28, 2023 at 11 AM at the Hyannis High School. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the All-Saints Altar Society, the Winters Building fund, or the Grant County Fair Board.
Online condolences may be left at www.batesgould.com. with Bates-Gould Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.