Joan Aktin, 80 of Fleming, died October 16 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer. The family will receive friends October 29 from 4-6 p.m. with Vigil and Recitation of the Holy Rosary to follow at 6 p.m. at Chaney-Reager Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held October 30 ^th 10 a.m. at Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church south of Fleming, Father Jerry Rohr as celebrant. Burial will follow at St. Peter's Cemetery.

Joan was born January 15, 1941 to Lawrence and Mabel Unrein in Sterling, Colorado. She graduated from Merino High School in 1960. In 1958 Joan met Robert (Jim) Atkin Jr. They married September 10, 1960, making their home west of Sterling. In 1967, Jim and Joan purchased and moved to a farm south of St. Peter's. There they raised four children.  They retired from the farm in 1996 and moved into Fleming where they had the very best neighbors, Rick and Diane Unrein. The couple enjoyed spending the winter months in Port Aransas, Texas, making many winter Texas friends from all over the US.

Joan was always busy. She enjoyed watching her children and grandchildren compete in sporting competitions, family gatherings, especially Christmas, annual camping and fishing trips to Steamboat Lake, and playing bridge.  Joan played golf twice a week and worked in her yard until her diagnosis. She was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church and the Tri-L-C Club. She served on the Fleming Community Library Association and the Fleming Historical Society.

Joan is survived by children Luann and Dave Koester, Doug and Lori Atkin, Bonnie and Paul Brownell, and Bob and Joan Atkin, nine grandchildren and fourteen great-grandchildren, brothers Harold, Paul, Gerald, Ron, Gary, and Ray and wives, sister-in-law Carol Atkin, and many other beloved family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Jim, her parents, Lawrence and May Unrein, parents-in-law, Robert James Atkin Sr. and Margaret Atkin, and brother-in-law Jerry Atkin.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of the Plains, St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, or the Fleming Historical Society, c/o Chaney-Reager Funeral Home P.O Box 1046 Sterling, CO 80751.