Joan Beatrice Harris, of Helena, died June 21, 2010, following a long battle with cancer.

      She was born March 9, 1938, in St. James Hospital in Butte, to William John Pomeroy Harris and Agnes Louise (Gratz) Harris.   Her father worked for the Anaconda Co.

      Joan attended McKinley Elementary School and Butte High School.   She went on to attend Carroll College in Helena and received a bachelor's degree in medical technology in 1961.

      In 1963, Joan completed a course at the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank in San Francisco, in which she became a specialist in the field of transfusion and blood banking in the clinical laboratories.   She lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay area for 42 years.   In 2001, she moved to Helena.

      She enjoyed traveling, watching the 49er's and the Carroll College Fighting Saints, the theater and the arts, playing with her shelties, and spending time with her family.

      She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Robert John Harris and William "Bill" Thompson; and dear friend, Edith Bossom.

      She is survived by her sister-in-law, Jeanette Thompson of Butte;   nieces, Agnes (Pete) Brekhus of Ennis, Renee (Louis) Dumas of Clancy and Kathleen (Ray) Anderson of Lewistown;   nephews, John (Maria) Thompson of Great Falls and Gordon (Susan) Thompson of Spokane, Wash.;   grandnieces and grandnephews, Monica (Reggie) Anderson, Eric (Cynthia) Brekhus, Matthew (Laura) Dumas, Megan Dumas and fiancé Jared Swanson, Nicole (Joe) Wilson, Amanda and Colleen Rau, Kim Anderson, Britney, Bill, Joe, and Shane Thompson;   and great-grandnieces and -grandnephews, Riley Anderson, Emily Mae Brekhus, Anna and Ella Dumas and Addyson Wilson.

      She will missed by close friends, Margaret (Peg) Weedman, Mina Daly, Dick and Diann Frazer and her sheltie, "Jamie."

      Visitation will begin at 1 p.m. Thursday, June 24, in Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home, Helena.   The rosary will be recited at 11 a.m. Friday, June 25, with funeral Mass celebrated at noon in the Cathedral of St. Helena.   Burial will be at 3:30 p.m. in Holy Cross Cemetery in Butte.

In lieu of flowers, Joan requested that memorials be sent to :
            Cancer Treatment Center, c/o
            St. Peter's Hospital
            2475 Broadway Street
            Helena,   59601
or to an organization of the donor's choice.

Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.stevensonandsons.com.