Joan M. Paver, age 88, a resident of Windsor Park in Carol Stream, IL, died February 1, 2026.  She was born August 21, 1937 in Chicago, IL to Harry & Mildred Richards.

Bill & Joan married in January 1957 at First Baptist Church in Elmhurst and were active members until 1981 when they moved to the First Baptist Church in Wheaton.  Involvement in church activities was very important to her.  In her years in Elmhurst she was involved in serving others through catering wedding receptions at the church, for which she recruited her family to help.  She was always willing to be involved with this type of behind the scenes service.  She also helped out with vacation bible school and sang in the choir for many years.  While at Elmhurst church she volunteered to assist  Jack & Theo Robinson, missionaries to Senegal, with the mailing of their bi-monthly prayer letter.  In the beginning this involved mimeographing pages and hand addressing envelopes. The boys helped to place the stamps and seal the envelopes, before she took them to the post office for mailing.

Bill's Mother recuited Joan to be a partner for the bi-annual Conservative Baptist Missions Conference which was a two week gathering that all the missionaries who where stateside where required to attend.  This opened the door to part time employement with the mission agency.  After their move to Wheaton Joan continued singing with the choir and began serving in the nursery with the newborns where she could hold the babies.  She was well know for her inability to pass a dog without petting it or acknowledge a baby during the walks that she and Bill enjoyed through the years.

Once Bill retired they moved to Florida where they spent 12 years and made many friends through their invovlement with First Baptist Naples.  During their time there they were servers for the mid-week meal. They continued this type of service when they moved to Georgia in 2011.  While in Georgia she volunteered with Operation Mobilization in the mailroom.   When they moved to Windsor in November 2017 in the early years she enjoyed good health and time with friends.  She reconnected with people she hadn't seen in years.

She is survived by her husband of 69 years, Bill; her children Bob, Dan (Wakana), Tom (Janice), and Jonathan (Jennifer) Paver; her grandchildren Kevin, Stephanie (Kyle) Lemerand, Tiffany, Crystal, Amanda, and Abby Paver; her great-grandchildren Aiden, Jacob, Skyler, Harley, Arlyn and Kalvin. Also survived  by her two nephews David (Saralyn) Richards & Phil (Patty) Richards.She was preceded in death by her brother Ron and his wife Joyce Richards.

A visitation will be held at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187, on Thursday, February 5, 2026, from 3:00 p.m. until the time of the memorial service at 4:00 p.m.

Memorial gifts may be directed to Evangelical Child & Family Agency (ECFA) , 1530 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187.

Family and friends may sign a guest book at hultgrenfh.com. For more information, please call Hultgren Funeral Home at 630-668-0027.