AUBURN — Joan M. Walther, RN, of 17 Moreau Ave., Lewiston, died on May 30, after a five-year battle with Lewy Body Dementia.

The daughter of Joseph E. and Mildred C. Mirandon, she was born in Patterson, N.J., Sept. 1, 1928. She grew up in nearby Ridgewood, N.J., and graduated from Ridgewood High School in 1946.

She graduated from Centenary Junior College in 1948, and entered the nursing program at Columbia University-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, N.Y. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Columbia University in 1951, and accepted a position at Baby’s Hospital at Presbyterian Hospital.

On April 5, 1955, she married Ted Walter in Mexico, DF. They returned to the U.S. in the fall of 1955 and lived in New York, where Joan worked for, among others, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. In 1958, she and her husband moved to Lewiston, when he accepted a position in the Economics Department of Bates College.

She held several nursing positions in Lewiston, for example, one with Androscoggin Home Health. But she spent most of the 1960s and 1970s at what she considered her most important job: raising and nurturing her daughters. In 1974, she accepted a position as a staff nurse at the Bates College Health Center, a position she thoroughly enjoyed. She retired in 1993.

In her later years, she and her husband traveled extensively. Together, they toured the Rockies from New Mexico to Banff, Alberta. They also relished almost annual fall trips to Quebec City and several trips to the Canadian Maritime Provinces, plus several trips to Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Wales and Scotland. But there is no doubt that their favorite destination was Bath, England. They visited this world heritage city 17 times and spent more than two years living in the city where they met individuals who became fast friends.

She leaves a grief stricken immediate family, her husband of 58 years, Ted; her daughters, Pamela W. Felber and Susan Walther; a son-by-marriage, Michael Felber, and a daughter’s companion, Scott Jeffords; her grandchildren, who she felt were very special, Kimberly Plummer, Samantha Howaniec, Zachary Felber, Jessica Felber and Andrea Bonin, and a grandson-by-marriage, Andrew Plummer; as well by her twin great-grandsons, Bentley and Travis Plummer; in addition, Joan is survived by her sisters-in-law, Gretchen W. Dumler, Barbara L. Mirandon and Leanne K. Walther; her brother-in-law, Christopher Walther; and a beloved special cousin, John V. Campana Jr. and his wife, Joan.

Joan was predeceased by her parents; and her brothers, J. Wilmer Mirandon and Robert Mirandon.

Joan’s family wants to give a special thank-you to the staffs of Scarborough Terrace, the Clover Health Care and the Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice, for the care and kindness they showered on Joan while she was in their charge.