After a long life of caring for others, Joan Carolyn (Murphy) Keogh Taloff died on Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at Glasgow Garden in Glasgow, MO. Her visitation will be held 1:00 – 3:00 p.m., Sunday, February 26, 2017 at Vaughn Funeral Home in Weston, MO. The Funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, February 27 at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston; immediately followed by interment at Mount Bethel Cemetery in Weston – just up the hill from where Joan was born. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association and/or Glasgow Garden Activity Fund. As the family story goes… It was a warm day in the spring of 1929 when a young pregnant woman was sent out to pick strawberries on her parent’s farm in Iatan, Missouri. That afternoon on June 9, Berniece (Pepper) and Chester Murphy became parents to their only child – a sweet, precious, little girl they named Joan Carolyn. Joan learned her geography well as she crisscrossed several states and many cities throughout her years of elementary and high school education. Following high school, Joan attended St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Kansas City, MO; graduating in June 1950. Nursing was a perfect career for her caring spirit. Joan always took pride in her career whether she was working in surgery or psychiatry. After dating a dapper young man for four years, Joan and Jim C. Keogh, Jr. were married in Phoenix, AZ on Thanksgiving Day - November 23, 1950. On their first wedding anniversary, Joan provided Jim with a gift he would never forget – their first child, Jim C. Keogh, III. It wasn’t long before the basinet was filled again with more children: Jill, Jeff, Jania, and Julie. Due to Jim’s career, the young family moved several times from Arizona to Missouri to California which was nothing new for Joan. She would later boast that she maintained her nursing licenses in four different states just in case there would be another move. Another move did come in 1980 when Jim and Joan, as well as their younger two daughters, relocated from California to the hometown of her family - Weston, Missouri. There at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Weston, Joan volunteered in various capacities including the parish council, the Women’s Guild, as a sponsor for catechumens, and in other areas. After working at Cushing Memorial Hospital in Leavenworth, KS for 14 years, Joan retired from nursing in a hospital setting. The following three years she dedicated herself entirely to caring for Jim as Alzheimer’s slowly robbed his capabilities. On November 22, 1997 - the day before their 47th wedding anniversary - Jim passed on to eternal life. After stating that she would never remarry, Joan called her children in 2002 to announce that she and Joseph Jay Taloff, a retired Methodist minister, were engaged. On July 6, 2002 she and Joe were married. This marriage brought together a BIG family with Joan’s five adult children and Joe’s nine adult children. It also brought an interesting blend of worship as the two could be seen at both Holy Trinity and the Weston Methodist Church on Sundays. Unfortunately, their marriage was short lived due to Joe’s passing on June 29, 2010. Alzheimer’s struck the family again. Joan began needing care herself. Her youngest, Julie Keogh Fuemmeler, and her family of Glasgow, MO assumed the care of Joan. Shortly thereafter, Joan was moved to Glasgow Gardens where she lived out her two remaining years of life. Joan’s parents, husbands, and her stepson, Darrell Warner, preceded her in death. She leaves her children, Jim C. Keogh, III of Olympia, WA; Jill Keogh Long of Lexington, KY; Jeff Keogh of Weston, MO; Sister Jania Keogh, OSB, of Norfolk, NE; Julie Keogh Fuemmeler of Glasgow, MO; Shirley Taloff of Houston, TX; Mary Beth Scherer of Concordia, MO; Barbara Jean Goodwin of Evansville, IN; Teresa Mayes of Weston, MO; Janet Warner of Weston, MO; Donna Burdette of Dallas, TX; Linda Maiava of Leesburg, FL; and Kim Boeding of Kansas City, MO. She also leaves the spouses of her children, her eight grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.

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