Dennis Funeral Homes

Kathleen Salmon-Joyner, age 71 of Red Lodge, Suffolk, England passed away peacefully at the Kentford Manor in New Market, Suffolk on Sunday, December 4, 2011 after a courageous 16 month battle with cancer.

A brief memorial service will be held at the Prosch-Dennis Funeral Home in Waterville on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:00 PM. A gathering will be held afterwards at Gilligan’s in Waterville for light refreshments. Kathleen will be buried near her home in Suffolk.

She was born December 11, 1939 at the Waseca Hospital in Waseca, Minnesota to Wallace and Uzada (Morsching) Salmon. She attended Waterville schools, graduating from High School in 1957, working summers and after school as waitress at Larson's Cafe. While attending Mankato State College she spent one summer as a hostess at McKinley National Park in Alaska and she spent another summer working on a Kibbutz in Israel. Kathleen received her degree in 1962 with majors in Elementary Education and in Special Education. She then taught at McKinley Elementary School in Owatonna for five years.

She applied and was accepted to teach dependent children of the military overseas. She first taught in Okinawa for a year then moved to England in the summer of 1968 where she began teaching children at the Royal Air Force base at Lakenheath. She married Fred Joyner on November 26, 1968 and they later divorced without children. She was a proud member of MENSA. She served a term as President of the PTA for primary schools in western Europe. Kathleen participated in the Teachers in Space Program and received Presidential recognition for her selection as the 11th teacher in line to fly on the space shuttle Challenger.  She retired from teaching in January 1995 and traveled to numerous countries including Czech Republic, Scandinavia, and Egypt.

She is survived by brother Garrett (Bonnie) Salmon, sisters WallisAnn Jondal and Susan Hermel along with ten nieces and nephews and numerous grand nieces and nephews. She also made a number of good friends in the New Market area who assisted with her needs.  Kathleen was preceded in death by her parents.