Joanne Summer Gustafson

Joanne Summer Gustafson, a retired schoolteacher whose greatest joy came from caring for others, died on October 26, 2023, at the age of 86. Joanne was a social butterfly who could often be found tending to her potted plants on a sunny day or sitting beside the fireplace with a good book or a sewing project on a winter night. She loved nothing more than a phone call or a visit from her family, neighbors, and friends. She was born to Lester and Elizabeth Summer in Devils Lake, North Dakota, on December 28, 1936. After graduating from high school and junior college, Joanne accepted a job as an elementary school teacher in Montana. It was at a party with her teacher friends where she met the oil guy from Minnesota who would become her husband. Joanne and Ronald Gustafson were married for 64 years. They lived in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, and Texas before making Lafayette their home in 1965. They also spent summers at Ron’s childhood home in Duluth, Minnesota. Joanne enjoyed a wide range of creative and outdoor activities, including baking, painting, coloring, crocheting, camping, hiking, fishing, and attending symphony performances. She was never shy with her expressions — sometimes scowling and growling in playful disapproval or covering her ears in loud environments — and always made birthdays and holidays special for those she loved. She was a member of First Lutheran Church of Lafayette, where she taught Sunday school and made baptismal napkins and quilts. Her daughter and granddaughter have carried on the tradition of teaching Sunday school in the Lutheran Church. Joanne’s family will fondly remember her pecan pies, crabapple crisps, rhubarb pies, and Christmas cookies. Her passion for baking lives on in her daughters and granddaughters. Even as dementia made day-to-day tasks more difficult, Joanne continued to take care of her husband and their home and dote on her children and grandchildren. She died in her sleep at Brookdale Lafayette. Joanne is survived by her husband, Ron, of Lafayette; their three daughters, Kelly Gustafson Wyatt and her husband, William, of Lafayette; Karen Gustafson Stutes and her husband, Timothy, of Prairieville; and Laurie Gustafson Grimes and her husband, Jeffrey, of Centralia, Missouri; four grandchildren, Megan Wyatt Ulmer and her husband, Maxwell, of Lafayette; James Wyatt and his wife, Elizabeth, of Youngsville; Michelle Stutes of Kemah, Texas; and Molly Stutes of Prairieville; and a sister, Burness Summer Reed of Mesa, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lester and Elizabeth Summer, and siblings, Ralph Summer, Verlin Summer, Elaine Summer Hanson, and Donald Summer. A funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m. on Friday, November 3, at Delhomme Funeral Home at 1011 Bertrand Drive in Lafayette. Visitation will be observed from 9 a.m. until the service begins. Interment will follow at Southwest Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Jennings. Pallbearers will be James Wyatt, Maxwell Ulmer, William Wyatt, and Timothy Stutes. In lieu of flowers, Joanne’s family asks that you spend an afternoon among nature, attend a symphony concert, share a cup of coffee with a friend, or bake cookies with loved ones.

Joanne Summer Gustafson

December 28, 1936 - October 26, 2023