Joan Calderwood

Joan Linsenmann Calderwood came into this world on December 11, 1941, just four days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and she left this world November 27, 2025.

Joan was the oldest child of Myron Curtis Linsenmann and Virginia Ricks Poulsen. She was born in Driggs, Idaho and lived with her family in Driggs, and Alta, Wyoming. However, her favorite place was at her grandparents' ranch in Clawson. There, she and her sister Karen played with kittens with a dishtowel wrapped around them, bound with a safety pin. It is also where her grandfather, Irv Poulsen, taught her about the constellations and helped her discover killdeer nests.

As Joan grew, she was noted for being very smart, but she wasn’t above getting into trouble at school. During her freshman year, an unpopular teaching substitute was at school, so Joan convinced all her classmates (except for one discerning boy) to ditch school. They went to the local store, bought picnic supplies, and headed to Twin Creeks to play for the day. They got detention the next day, but Joan always said that it was worth the fun.

Joan married young to her husband of 67 years, Jay Calderwood. They had two boys, Zane and Clint, in rapid succession. Jay worked in road construction and the young family lived in Smiths Ferry, Banks, Idaho Falls,

Dubois, Meridian, and Jerome. Joan loved everywhere they lived and made life long friends. While in Jerome, they added a daughter, Tresha, to their family.

Later, they moved back to Teton Valley and had three more children: Trudi, Caryn, and Jayson. Joan loved being a housewife. She loved hanging clothes out on the line, cleaning, cooking, canning, and baking. Having just-baked bread and cookies for when the kids got home from school was such a treat. She sewed a lot of her family’s clothes and, to supplement her boy’s missions, she sewed beautiful baby quilts to sell.

Joan was instrumental in helping to establish the Valley of the Tetons Library. After the new (1966) building was built, she knew that they needed a lot of books. The Caldwell Library was moving to a new building so they were getting rid of a lot of books. Joan, Jay, and a friend, brought two pickup loads of books to Victor. She also volunteered her time manning the desk.

Later, Joan worked for 25 years at shelter homes for adults with special needs. She loved them, and they loved her since she treated them with respect and dignity. Joan also loved to travel with Jay, and her parents. They explored the Southwest where her sister, Karen, lived.

As she got older, Joan spent many hours a day indexing and completed over a million names. She was one of the top indexers in the world. Later, as her health declined, she was a master Candy Crush player having ranked ninth in the world.

Joan had one true love of her life and that was Diet Coke. Yet, the second loves of her life were her family. She is survived by her husband, Jay Calderwood, and her children: Zane (Betsy), Clint (Lori), Tresha Beard (Clayton), Trudi Kaufman (Ryan), Caryn Hammond (Paul), and Jayson (Anne). She is also survived by her sister, Karen Galloway, and brothers, Kent, Gene, and Scott Linsenmann. Joan has 27 beloved grandchildren and 50 great grandchildren with four on the way. She was preceded in death by her granddaughter, Brett.

The funeral will be on Wednesday, December 3rd at 11 am at the Victor LDS Church. Visitations will also be at the church, Tuesday night 6-7:30 and again Wednesday morning 10-10:45 prior to funeral.

To watch the funeral remotely go to

https://zoom.us/j/92893138572