Reading the obituary of Joan O’Steen, 89, of Oak Ridge, is a walk through time with a woman you come away believing could have done anything. Ms. O’Steen passed away on Jan. 20, 2021, from COVID-19 complications.
She came to live in Oak Ridge with her husband, the late Thomas A. Hill, publisher of the family-owned Oak Ridger. She met him when she interned with the Miami Herald. The first in her family to attend college, she studied journalism at the University of Miami.
An amazing attribute is her drive. She lived for 50 years with multiple sclerosis, remaining active in various civic causes. She kept her name – an oddity for someone born in 1931. And she won her first competition at age 4, reciting The Owl and the Pussycat. O’Steen was a mother, a writer, an athlete/coach and an artist. She will be missed.
No public service will be held. Additional obituary info is here.
