Dr. Joan Thompson, 68, of Ogden, Utah passed away at home with her dog and children by her side on December 1, 2023, after a long, hard-fought battle with cancer. She was born on May 19, 1955, to Sol and Betty Silverman in San Francisco, California, but has called Utah home for over 40 years.

Joan had a highly successful professional life, a deeply rich family life, and strong friendships that supported her until the day she passed. Joan's immense love for her family led her to plan numerous memorable family trips across the continental U.S., as well as trips to Mexico, Canada, and Alaska. The last big adventure she took her family on was a four-day river rafting trip through the Gates of Lodore on the Green River just a few months ago in August 2023. Filled with many laughs, precious memories, and joy, the most notable being when Joan successfully hiked over three miles and 1,000 vertical feet up to a waterfall with her family, five years into her battle with cancer while also undergoing chemotherapy. She never fell short of impressing others with her tenacity, mental toughness, drive, and zest for life.

Joan was a tremendous mother and an even more vivacious grandmother. Having been blessed with six precious grandchildren whom she loved deeply, she was always busy buying them gifts, planning parties, spoiling them with love, and doing arts and crafts with them. On occasion and with a little encouragement from the grandchildren, Joan would agree to dance parties with the kids, which was always a highlight filled with laughter and joy. Spunky and warm, Joan was always the favorite lap to sit on or who the grandkids ran to. Her love for family extended well beyond her immediate family, as she was also deeply invested in her nieces and nephews, as well as her students and coworker's families.

Joan was a gifted athlete, which allowed her to run track for the University of California, Berkeley, as well as keep up with her brothers, who were also athletically talented. That athletic ability carried over to her love for tennis and golf with her friends and family. She was still signed up to play team tennis with her friends up until her passing, as this was such a fun time for her. She loved being in the mountains with her dogs, knocking off her to-do list, and gardening. Petunias were a favorite in her yard every year and she took pride in their vibrance.

Early on, Joan developed a love for health, research, and education, with her father being highly influential because of his successful career in oral cancer research and education. With this background and her experiences during her undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley, she decided to pursue career opportunities in the clinical dietetics area. After completing a master's and doctorate degree from the University of Arizona, Tucson and doing clinical nutrition research, she was convinced that preventive medicine and lifestyle management are among the keys to lifelong health and happiness. She applied her experiences and higher education toward her dedicated work at Weber State University (WSU).

For many years, Joan worked tirelessly on advancing her professional career while delicately balancing family life. She was an Emeritus professor of nutrition and the founding director of the nutrition program at WSU where she taught for 30 years. She envisioned and brought to life the greenhouse, garden, and food lab at the WSU Davis Campus, a few years before her retirement in 2018. Her highly successful academic career gave her a chance to share sound strategies for promoting nutrition, health, and human performance. No matter what relationship one had with her, she loved the opportunity to speak, write, teach, and share her knowledge. This often resulted in a wide variety of audiences seeking her advice, including her cancer support group and oncologists in her last few years of life. Her voice is still heard in her co-authored textbook: Nutrition: Your Life Science, 3rd edition.

Joan will always be remembered as a brilliant, well-loved, and highly respected woman. She radiated positivity, had a smile that lit up a room, and meant so much to so many. She will be greatly missed, and her legacy will live on in those who knew her.

In honor of Dr. Joan Thompson's legacy, an academic scholarship from the Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences in the Moyes College of Education will be awarded to a sports nutrition major at WSU. If you would like to donate, please visit: give.weber.edu/joanthompson.

Joan was preceded by her mother and father, Betty and Sol Silverman. She is survived by her three children: Lauren (Russell) Tanner, Craig (Janalee) Thompson, and Jessica Thompson, her six grandchildren: Holden, Jax, Brooklyn, Jalena, Solomon, and Jace and her two brothers: Jon Silverman and Bob (Sandy) Silverman.

A Celebration of Life will be held on January 13, 2024, themed "Eat, Drink and Be Merry" so please join us in celebrating the wonderful life Joan had. Light food and drinks will be served at the Valley View Golf Course Par 5 Grill from 4pm-8pm (2501 E Gentile Street, Layton, UT 84040).