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Joan Davis Vaughn was born on January 7, 1934 in Cardwell, Missouri, daughter of Floyd and Bessie Davis. She grew up helping her parents run the farm and taking care of her younger siblings, Jerry and G.H. She was a diligent student and was the salutatorian of her high school class. She loved music and played the piano, the violin, and the clarinet. One day, while sitting on her front porch with curlers in her hair and reading her Bible, Bobby Vaughn rode up in a truck and asked if she wanted to go watch him play in the high school baseball game. After several minutes of protests that her hair was too wet, she joined him in the truck. A few years later, she joined him in marriage at the courthouse in Cardwell. They were both 18. While Bobby was serving in the US Navy, they had their first of three daughters, Jan. Seven years later, they had Jill and a mere 17 months later, Juli. They raised their girls in Garden Grove, California. Joan was an avid homemaker who enjoyed gardening, sewing, baking, and making her girls practice the piano every day. She also regularly taught Bible class at Fairview Church of Christ. In 1974, they moved to Marietta, Georgia. Eight years later, Bobby's work took them to Connecticut, then to Pennsylvania before they finally returned to Georgia for good. During that time, she became "Mema" to Justin, Jenna, Joanna, Nathaniel, Kayleigh, Claire, and Leah. She played an influential role in raising every single one of them. She was an exacting yet caring teacher. Whether it was how to comb the tassels on the rug, how to grow potatoes, the truth about Santa Claus, or a lesson from her childhood, she was always teaching them and helping them grow into people who valued hospitality, family, and God. Eventually, she became a great-grandmother to Eliana, Grace, Jane, Samuel, Finn, and Jet.

She battled Alzheimers for the last ten years of her life, and on March 23, 2014, she went home to be with God. Though our hearts are heavy, we rejoice in knowing she is receiving her reward and is happier than she could ever be here on earth. For those who desire to extend an expression of support and sympathy and prefer an alternative to flowers, her family requests that donations be made to the Alzheimer's Association in this wonderful lady's honor. It is our dream to see this heartbreaking illness eliminated, so that no one else may have to lose their sweetheart, their mother, their Mema, or their friend, to it ever again.

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