Biography: Joan Kirkham Boyd passed away on 4/22/23 with family by her side. She was born 2/3/1938, in Alpena, AR and grew up in Harrison, AR. She attended the U of A, Fayetteville and earned her degree in nursing at UAMS in Little Rock, AR.
 
Joan served with the U.S. Agency for International Development  providing medical care to Vietnamese children in the most rustic conditions in Pleiku during the Vietnam war. Upon her return to the U.S., she earned her master’s in public health at the U of Chapel Hill, NC, and became an assistant professor at the U of C School of Nursing in San Francisco. She was on the faculty that initiated one of the first pediatric nurse practitioner programs in the U.S.
 
Most of her career was in administration of primary health care in low-income Hispanic communities in CA. She developed three school-based clinics and started programs in diabetes, prenatal care and sex education in schools, as well as family planning and primary care in a mental health clinic setting.
 
Joan traveled the world and loved music and art. She took advantage of the many performance art opportunities, especially the opera, in her beloved San Francisco. She was also a volunteer and advocate for her cherished/eccentric neighborhood, Haight Ashbury, where she lived for more than 40 years. She was known for throwing fabulous parties with outstanding entertainment. Joan befriended many young, troubled people in her neighborhood and was a mentor to so many. In 2020, she and her dog Harry moved back to Arkansas to be near family.
 
Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Frank L. Boyd and Virginia Alberta Kirkham Boyd of Harrison Arkansas, and her brother and sister-in-law, Roy and Ann Taylor Boyd of Chicago, IL. She is survived by her sisters, Jeanie Joblin, Virginia Boyd and Marian Boyd, Little Rock; nieces and nephews Nathan Joblin (Catherine Gregory) Boulder, CO; Mike McCullough, North Little Rock; Celie Joblin (Jonny Griffiths) Chicago, Aiden Joblin, Fayetteville, AR and Nicholas Stevens, Mobile, Alabama.
 
In lieu of flowers the family hopes you will make a donation to the arts program of your choice. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com