Joan Muir Obituary

Muir
Joan Bidwell
Muir
September 19, 1932
September 11, 2024

Joan Muir was born Joan Bidwell Cooper on September 19, 1932, in Mount Vernon, New York to parents John Russell Cooper and Elizabeth Flather Cooper. Both parents worked in the lighting and interior design profession in New York City.
Joan's early years were spent in New York and Connecticut where she especially enjoyed visiting her grandparents, Robert and Laura Stoughton Cooper, on their farm. It was there that Joan developed a love of animals and nature at an early age. Her grandparents remained influential in her life through adulthood. When her father accepted a position in window display and design at Mandel Brothers Department Store in Chicago, Illinois the family moved to Winnetka, Illinois. Her sister, Gerrie May Cooper, was born in 1935.
Joan and her sister attended New Trier High School, well known for its creative arts programs. Joan began taking classes in piano and choir and performing in the high school musicals. Encouraged by her voice teacher, she was asked to sing several Jerome Kern songs with the famous Dick Gergen Band at their homecoming dance. She and Gerrie both worked as fashion models for Mandel Brothers.
Graduating from high school in 1951, Joan went on to attend Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. It was there that she met Robert George Muir, who worked as a dishwasher at the Chi Omega sorority house where she was a member. They were married January 31, 1953, in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois at the Third Presbyterian Church.
Robert transferred to the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana and graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and Architecture. Joan and Rob's first two children, Donald and Laura were born there. Joan helped support their young family by baking cakes and providing childcare for college professors. After college graduation, to fulfill his ROTC requirement, Rob joined the United States Air Force and was stationed at ENT Air Force in Colorado Springs. Upon arriving at Peterson Air Force Base, Joan was immediately taken by the beauty of Pikes Peak and the surrounding mountains and said, "I want to live on that mountainside someday."
Sons, Darryl and Ross were subsequently born in Colorado Springs and the family resided near downtown in the Old North End area for the next 13 years. Rob fulfilled Joan's dream in 1968, when he designed and built their family home in upper Skyway (Pointe Sublime) below the Gold Camp Road. With the help and dedication of her family and friends, Joan was able to live there until she died.
A consummate lover of nature, wildlife, music, and the arts, Joan dedicated her life to the advancement, preservation, and public awareness of each of these causes. Joan used her excellent writing and verbal communication skills to make her opinions known to those in positions of authority. She was a tireless volunteer for the betterment of her adopted hometown of Colorado Springs. Joan served on the Springs Area Beautification Association (SPBA); the Downtowners organization (now known as the Downtown Partnership); the Wild Forever Foundation, whose mission was to rehabilitate orphaned and injured wild animals and return them to their wild habitat (she became licensed through the Division of Wildlife to specialize in the care of raccoons, squirrels, and birds); and the Skyway Neighborhood Association. She always sang in her church choirs beginning at Faith Presbyterian Church and then at Broadmoor Community Church where she made life-long friendships.
While Joan's children attended schools in District 12, she served as President of the Cheyenne Mountain Enrichment Program, responsible for establishing a drama program at the high school and supporting the art department by setting up city-wide student exhibitions and bringing in regionally and nationally recognized artists to speak to the students. She also served on the District 12 Accountability Committee and as Executive Administrator for the District 12 Tradition of Excellence Foundation.
After the kids were grown, Joan became very involved with her own musical pursuits. She performed in local Broadway musicals produced by the Music Theater of the Rockies and local opera performances by the Colorado Springs Opera Association. Her favorite productions were Jesus Christ Superstar and the opera Boris Godunov. She served as President of the Colorado Opera Festival Guild for several years. Joan even found time to take up running, cycling, and membership at the downtown YMCA in her later years. She was a proud member of the Zebulon Pike Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.
Joan Bidwell Muir will always be remembered by her family, friends, and community as a thoughtful intellect and renaissance woman. She was a gourmet cook, a talented and creative seamstress, an entertainment guru - hosting many dinners and musical cast parties in her home - a gifted singer and serious performer who took charge of her life every single day even as age and infirmity took its toll. She died peacefully with her children nearby in the care of Pikes Peak Hospice and the medical team at UC Health Memorial Hospital. She is survived by her sister, Gerrie Mills (Grant); sons, Donald, Darryl, and Ross Muir; daughter, Laura Muir Mellini; grandson Nicholas Muir Lane (Naomi); great-grandchildren, Harrison, Annika, and Gaby Lane; step-grandson, Julian Mellini (Kaitlyn); great-granddaughter Zoe Mellini; and nieces Dianna LoDolce, Sharon Carbone, Cindy Kleerup, Jean Kolovson (Phil) and nephew, Andrew Muir.
A memorial service and celebration of life will be held this spring, May 24, 2025, at 2:00pm at Broadmoor Community Church.