Joan M. Morales, 81, of Lebanon, PA, passed away peacefully at her home on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2021. She was the wife of Luis T. Morales, with whom she celebrated 63 years of marriage on June 23, 2020.
Born in Lebanon on Sept. 14, 1939, Joan was the daughter of the late Florence and Joseph Manz. She was proceeded in death by two brothers, Joseph Manz and Jim Manz. Early in life, she worked different jobs, finally settling on a career path as a CNA at Cedar Haven in Lebanon. This is where she discovered one of her many passions, caring for the elderly, which she absolutely loved. Joan retired from Cedar Haven after 25 years of service. Gardening was another one of her passions. She loved planting trees, shrubs, and flowers, and was known for her green thumb. She loved her little piece of land on Prescott Dr. Joan’s second passion was basketball. She was a huge women’s basketball fan. In 2014, she attended the Women’s Final Four in one of her favorite cities, Nashville, where her favorite team UCONN, went undefeated and won the National Championship. Joan was an avid reader and enjoyed collecting books. Anyone who knew Joan knew her love of country music. She loved concerts and attended numerous live shows throughout her lifetime. She traveled to Nashville frequently to see her favorite country and western singers. One of her greatest highlights was meeting her favorite artist, Dolly Parton. Joan traveled to many places throughout her life. She loved traveling around the U.S. on bus trips with her husband, Luis, and she cherished her beach vacations with her family to Rehoboth Beach every summer.
Joan’s greatest accomplishments were her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She is survived by her five children, Louie Morales, Tina Lanciault (Dan), Jody Morales, Joseph Morales, and Melissa Morales (Page). Joan had four grandchildren, Paul, Linus, Alec, and Kody, and four great-grandchildren, Alana, Lexie, Grace, and Luke. Joan is also survived by two sisters, Janet, wife of Wayne Bates, and Kathryn, wife of Gary Longenecker.
She was loved and will be missed by the many lives she touched.
Services will be held privately at Grand View Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to <https://www.alivingtribute.org/> OR <https://thetreesremember.com/>
Thompson Funeral Home, Inc. is entrusted with the arrangements. Please share your memories with the family at our online guest book at thompsonfuneralhomelebanon.com
