Joan was born December 19, 1923 in Rexburg, Idaho to Earl and Maida Nelson. After graduation from Madison High, Joan followed her WW2 soldier husband from camp to camp. She married Albert Eric Ahlman March 19, 1943. She worked as a secretary. Her husband Al suffered a fatal heart attack in 1978. In 1985 Joan served an LDS mission on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.