Joan Petersen

Joan Petersen departed this life for her heavenly home on Tuesday October 27, 2021 after a brief hospital stay. During that stay, the kindness and skill of her nurses showed that they are true angels.

Joan was born to Alfred and Mary Petersen in Brooklyn, New York. She spent her childhood in Brooklyn, and then as a teenager, the family moved to the Long Island town of Bayshore where she completed high school.

Joan’s career started at WGLI-WTFM radio (affectionately known as wiggly-wit-fum) where she was the “traffic director.” It was her responsibility to schedule and log the station’s programming. Eventually, she went to work for Pan American World Airways. Joan did several jobs until she found her way to an “engineering assistant,” where she keep track of the weight of each of Pan Am’s aircraft.

During her 25 years at Pan Am, she was able to travel extensively around the world. Her adventures took her riding a camel around the Egyptian Pyramids, the beaches of Rio, the Acropolis, Russia, Ireland, India, Thailand, Japan, shopping in Singapore, and everything in between.

At Pan Am, Joan’s beauty and sense of humor, caught the attention of an engineer who would become her life-long companion, Ernie. After the demise of Pan Am, the two of them moved to Bedford and became Texans.

Besides taking good care of Ernie, Joan enjoyed gardening and beautified their home with many plants and flowers. She loved all of God’s creatures, but took a particular liking to cats. Joan identified with their independent nature as she was a strong independent women.

Joan is survived by her life companion Ernie Tangren, brother Richard Petersen, his wife Doris, and nieces Karyn and Kim.