April 21, 1927-April 24, 2025

Joan Heineman died peacefully in Seattle on April 24 at age 98.

Katherine Joan Rambo was born April 21, 1927, in Vancouver, British Columbia, to William Huber Rambo and Nell Anne TenBrook Rambo. As a little girl, Joan lived briefly in Tacoma, Washington, until her father’s work with lumber mills took the family to Port Angeles, Washington, and later to Portland, Oregon, for her high school years.

Joan graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in English Literature. There she met Donald Richard Koberg of Hood River, Oregon. After their marriage in 1949 they lived in Richland, Washington, where Joan raised her children Katherine and John while Don worked at Hanford.

Don died of cancer in 1965 at the age of 42. Joan subsequently met and married Robert E. Heineman in 1973. In 1975 Bob’s posting at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took them to Washington, D.C., for two years where, thanks to Joan’s government Q clearance from technical editing and secretarial work at Hanford, she was honored to volunteer at the White House during the Ford administration. In the early 1980s Bob’s job at Battelle took them to Columbus, Ohio. They returned to Richland for good in 1983. For the next few decades Joan and Bob shared a rich life of adventures and travels, including multiple trips to Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, and all over the U.S. After Bob’s death in 2007, Joan continued traveling, visiting friends on the West Coast, and taking a trip through the South with her niece Susan. During those years, Joan would spend a few months at a time in Seattle to be near her daughter. She embarked on her last great adventure at age 88, a two-week trip to Cambridge, England, organized by the Women’s University Club. There she attended university classes and made excursions to the Downton Abbey castle and other highlights. And of course, made new friends.

Joan always made and treasured friends. Known for her kind, generous spirit, she kept in touch through cards and letters, and–rare for her age–email and texts, when those technologies came along. Well into her 80s she’d lunch with childhood friends from Port Angeles. She attended Grant High School reunions in Portland until only a handful of alums were still living. She stayed close with college friends from her Tri-Delt sorority at the University of Oregon and kept involved in the Tri-Cities chapter until she moved to Seattle in 2017. She had limitless curiosity about people and loved meeting new friends wherever she went, whether during years in Washington, D.C., or Columbus, Ohio, or traveling with Bob. Even in her 90s when her memory began to fail, at one appointment her brain doctor found himself talking more about himself than he expected as he fell prey to her genuine interest in his background and his family.

Throughout her life Joan had an artistic bent and created beauty around her. She often drew little sketches of family in birthday cards. She could follow a knitting pattern so well that she once made an elaborate Fair Isle ski sweater. She excelled at painting portraits and still lifes in oils. In a sculpture class, she captured a charming likeness of her grandson Donald (only to have the clay explode in the kiln when it was accidently fired). A fine seamstress, she surprised a good friend by making a dress that would fit over her friend’s back brace after a skiing accident. Joan loved to wear stylish clothes, often wore skirts, and never even owned a pair of sweatpants. She had merciless energy for clothes shopping and typically chose lovely purples, blues, and pinks.

Above all, Joan loved her family, always with generosity and kindness. Her children felt like they’d hit the jackpot in the mom department. Joan adored her younger brother John Rambo, and always got to giggling when they were together. She had special relationships with her nieces and nephews and her son-in-law Chris Rideout. She was fond of her big clan of Rambo cousins and made a point to attend their family reunions. Her marriages were happy, and she readily embraced her blended family with Bob.

After the death of Joan’s son John in 2017, Joan moved to assisted living in Seattle to be nearer to her daughter Katherine and to John’s son Donald.

Joan is preceded in death by her husband Bob, who died in 2007, her son John TenBrook Koberg who died in 2017, and her younger brother John Rambo who died in 2024. She is survived by her daughter Katherine Koberg (Chris Rideout), her grandson Donald TenBrook Koberg (Sarah Roberts), her nieces and nephews Catherine Rambo, Nate McKenna, Susan Rambo, Christopher Rambo, and Sarah Rambo, as well as Bob’s children Robert Heineman, Virginia Heineman, Tom Heineman and their children and grandchildren.

A Inurnment will be held at Sunset Gardens at 12pm on August 16th 2025 followed by a Celebration of Life at the Einans event center Events At Sunset at 1pm

915 Bypass HWY Richland WA 99352