Joseph Anna Rowland (Joan) Chance, 91, was called home to be with her Lord on Wednesday, July 1, 2015. She was born on May 22, 1924, in Rockdale, to Bertha Pearl Clouse Rowland and Johnathan Horace Rowland.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Johnathan and Bertha Rowland; sisters, Ima Jean Thompson, Marjorie Blalock, and Marion Wilson; brothers, Preston Rowland, Dudley Rowland, and Jack Rowland; son-in-law, James Bobo; grandson, Jimmy Bobo; and granddaughter, Anna Chance.
Joan is survived by her husband of seventy-one years and nine months, Cecil Norman Chance; five children, Norma Bobo of Silsbee; George Arthur (Skip) Chance, Sr. and his wife, Sherry of Warren; Deidra Annette Hare and her husband, Ralph, of Fannett; Richard Marlin Chance and his wife, Carolyn, of Nederland; Connie Susan Townsend and her husband, Al, of League City; and brother, Robert Ryan Rowland and his wife, Betty, of Crowley.
Joan married Cecil Norman Chance on October 2, 1943 in Atlanta. She moved to Beaumont in 1945 when her father was transferred on his job with KCS Railroad where he worked as a fireman. Cecil was in the U.S. Navy from June 1944 to February 14, 1946. Joan and Cecil lived in Beaumont from 1946 to 1951. They moved to Galveston in 1951 and lived there until 1954. They returned to Beaumont in 1954 and then moved to Nederland in 1955. Joan was a resident of Nederland for the past sixty years until moving to Warren in February of 2015.
Many ladies will remember Joan as a beautician, owner, and operator of Joan’s Beauty Shop. Some ladies still came from out of town to have their hair fixed until Joan closed her shop. Joan worked as a telephone operator for Southwestern Bell. She loved roses and had several rose bushes. Joan also loved gardening and was voted Homemaker of the week in Nederland. Reporters came out and interviewed her. Her picture was in the Nederland paper on September 1, 1982. She shared a few of her recipes.
Joan will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her. Her friends and neighbors always knew she was there to help in any way she could when a need was known.
A gathering of Mrs. Chance’s family and friends will be from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Saturday, July 4, 2015, at Landmark United Pentecostal Church, 2115 Nall Street, Port Neches. A celebration of Joan’s life will be held 10:00 a.m., Sunday, July 5, 2015, at Landmark United Pentecostal Church, Port Neches, with her entombment to follow at Memory Gardens of Jefferson County, Nederland.
In lieu of flowers Joan requested memorial contributions be made to Landmark United Pentecostal Church Building Fund, 2115 Nall Street, Port Neches, Texas 77651.
