Joan Kirkham

Joan Kirkham passed away after a brief illness on October 11th, 2015 at Brandon Woods in Lawrence, Kansas. Joan was born on December 21st, 1926 in Topeka, Kansas. She attended Seaman High School in Topeka, graduating in 1944. She started her college career at at the University of Kansas in Lawrence as a music major, playing the trumpet, but soon switched to mathematics, receiving her B.A. in 1948. She obtained an M.A. from the University of Denver in 1960. Her career as a mathematician included work at the Denver Research Institute and McDonnell Aviation in St. Louis. In 1967 she started working in support of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Colorado Springs. Included in her duties was the tracking of all reflective objects in space, including satellites and and man-made debris. She retired in 1987. Joan was active in the National Association of Parliamentarians and served as president of the Colorado division from 1988-1990. She loved musicals, with a special fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan, and was a regular visitor at the Lied Center at KU. She also enjoyed crossword puzzles and sudoku. Survivors include brother Edward Kirkham and his wife Arline and nephew Gary Kirkham and his wife Kathy of Englewood, Florida; nieces Jane Berger of Augsburg, Germany and Nora Mitchell of Encinitas, California; and three great-nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister Jean Kirkham Orenstein of Washington, D.C.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Joan Kirkham Scholarship Fund for Women in Mathematics c/o the KU Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 928, Lawrence KS 66044.