Joanne Dawson, 87, of Cherokee passed away on Friday, June 26, 2026, at Accura Healthcare in Cherokee.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, July 1, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. Burial was in Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials in Joanne’s honor to Trinity Lutheran Church or Cherokee Regional Hospice.
Joanne was born on June 5, 1939, to Franz and Henrietta (Fischer) Rubbert at Marcus. She graduated from Washington High School in 1957. She attended Mankato Commercial College. After college, she roomed with her lifelong friends, Lorinne Bergman, Joan Forcier and Eleanor Sechler while she worked in Minneapolis, Minn. She was united in marriage to James “Jim” Dawson on Oct. 25, 1968, at the Little Brown Church at Nashua.
Joanne worked as an A & W Car hop in Cherokee and was an ROTC assistant decretary to the Colonel in Minneapolis, Minn. She then was the bookkeeper for Warren Curtis, and Co, C & D Bookkeeping, Hope’s Fashion Farm and Jeanne’s Boutique. She joined her husband Jim as a bookkeeper at France Grain and Feed, when he took sole ownership in 1987. She retired in 2004.
She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee, where she was active in Ladies Aide and the women’s church groups.
Joanne stayed active delivering Meals on Wheels and volunteering at nursing homes. In her free time, Joanne loved playing Tripoly with friends, reading, gardening, playing solitaire and attending her children and grandchildren’s activities. In her younger years, she and Jim enjoyed snowmobiling, camping and traveling. She enjoyed drag racing her red 1963 Chevy Impala.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Jim Dawson; son-in-law Tim Flaherty; sisters, Joyce (Clarence) Nagel and Jerolyn Attwood; father-in-law and mother-in-law, John and Myrtle Dawson; sisters-in-law, Darlys (Ronnie) Stevens and Audrey (Carl) Pitts; brother-in-law John “Jack” Dawson and nephew Roger Pitts.
Joanne will lovingly be remembered by her four children: Jeff (Helen) Dawson of Yankton, S.D.; Jena (Chris) Munson of Omaha, Neb.; Jodi Flaherty (Steve Sanford) of Fort Dodge; and Jamie (Tracy) Renken of Cleghorn; eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren: Andrew Dawson (Paige May) and their children, Sawyer, Banks and Drew; Elizabeth Dawson (fiancé Lance); Shannon (Landon) Hughett and their daughter Millie; Sean (Emma) Flaherty; Zachary (Jayda) Munson; Emily Munson; Katie Flaherty (fiancé Cole); and Maggie Flaherty; sister Janice (Carl) Manning of Shelton, Wash.; sister-in-law Sharon Dawson of Chandler, Ariz.; and brothers-in-law, Joe Attwood of Savoy, Ill.; and Tom (Doris) Dawson of Washta; also many nieces and nephews.
