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Birth: 1932 Death: 2024 Joan Adele Thatcher, known as Jo-An, was born August 22, 1932 in Afton, Star Valley, Wyoming to Marion “Alton” Thatcher and Olive Adele Gardner. She passed away peacefully at home in Santa Cruz on October 14, 2024. Joan’s family moved to Sonoma, CA during World War II, when her father was hired to work at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
Joan attended UC Berkeley, where she was president of her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. She maintained life-long friendships with her sorority sisters. She was the first in her family to attend college, which made her parents very proud.
Joan met and married Kimmel Fudge in Berkeley, CA and raised her children Debora, Robert and Laura in the south Bay Area. Later, Joan married Richard Randolph, a founding professor of UC Santa Cruz, and the family joined Richard and his son Matt to live in a 100-year old farmhouse in the Santa Cruz foothills. Joan became a substitute teacher, taught Home Economics at Harbor High, and then started the first computer lab at EA Hall Jr High in Watsonville, where many of her students were the children of seasonal agricultural workers.
Richard Randolph served as the Provost of Cowell College from 1974 to 1979, and as the Provost’s wife, Joan became the “master entertainer” hosting events at the campus house for students, their parents, and fellow professors, while continuing to teach full time and with two children still at home. Joan and Richard spent a sabbatical year in Cambridge, England, and in retirement, traveled to many places around the world. Joan is survived by her children Debora, Robert, Matthew, and Laura, and her grandchildren Kalina and Louis.
She was a smart, strong and independent woman who will be missed very much. A memorial service will be held in 2025. Honor with Flowers In memory of Joan Thatcher Plant a Living Memorial In memory of Joan Thatcher.
