Joan Roley
Moro | Save
Joan Frances (Dorsey) Roley passed away on September 8, 2025 after a brief illness. She was 90 years old. She was still reading a book a day until a kidney blockage and ensuing sepsis resulted in her hospitalization.
Joan was born in Moro, Illinois on March 8, 1935 to Maurice “Dick” and Ida Dorsey. She grew up on the family farm with her older siblings Ken, Jean, and Bill. She attended Moro School, a two-room schoolhouse, for 8 years, then graduated from Edwardsville High School in 1953.
As much as she adored her childhood and her family, she knew that she didn’t want to marry a farmer. Even so, the farm always remained a strong anchor in her life. Her Dorsey family has been farming that land since 1865 and there are still 4 generations living there today. She will be laid to rest in the Moro Cemetery with the Dorseys alongside her husband Paul.
After high school, she attended Illinois State University for two years, studying special education. She was the first person in her family to attend college. As part of her career training, she had a summer job at ISSCS, an orphanage for Illinois military families’ children. There, she met Paul Roley, the recreation director. They bonded the night his dog died and she consoled him. They fell in love and married on Sept 10, 1955. Foregoing a honeymoon, they preferred to spend the money on a double bed.
Their three children - Scott (1956), Megan (1957), Ross (1958) - were born when they lived in Sterling, IL while Paul was teaching high school English and debate. Next, they moved to Champaign, IL so Paul could pursue a PhD in Russian history. Joan worked nights as a hotel switchboard operator, and Paul typed his dissertation while the children slept. The soothing tap tap tap of the typewriter keys lulled the children to sleep.
Once Paul graduated, the family then moved to Boulder, CO for 2 years and finally to Bellingham, WA in 1967. While Paul worked as a Soviet history professor at WWU, Joan got a job as a secretary in the Geology department for a few decades. She often answered the phone at home by inadvertently saying “Geology. Joan.”
Besides working, Joan devoted herself to church, community, and volunteering.
The whole family started attending First Congregational Church of Bellingham in 1967 where she continued to worship until her death. She was active in the church choir for almost 50 years, along with Book Club, women’s groups, Sunday School, Dining in Faith, and a plethora of other projects and committees. Inevitably, she ended up being in charge. For instance, she wasn’t just a Sunday School teacher, she was the Sunday School Superintendent. She wasn’t just a member of a women’s circle, she was president of Women’s Council.
Joan also spent many years as a volunteer (and president) of a student exchange program called Experiment in International Living. She organized numerous groups from Italy, Switzerland, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, etc. to spend a few weeks in Whatcom County, staying with host families and seeing the local sites. One year, the group leader from Japan was so impressed with Mrs. Roley that he wanted to marry her! She had a broad worldview for her generation and strove for intercultural understanding.
Relatedly, she was dedicated to taking in strays. There were often Geology students staying at the red house while they were between rentals. Or friends-of-friends who needed student housing. There was a stray goat on the side of the road that somehow was adopted by the Roleys. Re-homed rabbits whose geology owners had been feeding them marijuana. A stray dog that stayed for 10 years. Stray cat. But the best stories that depict Joan are:
In 1971, a family had been sailing around the world with their two teenagers and arrived in Bellingham. They wanted their kids to start the school year while the parents went back to Ohio to get furniture out of storage and move everything here. They asked the school if they knew of anyone who would take in their kids for a few weeks, and the school recommended the Roleys. A few weeks turned into a few months, and everyone was starting to wonder if the parents would ever come back. They did. But Rick and Kari will always be an honorary brother and sister to us. And their parents became Joan and Paul’s best friends!
In the fall of 1974, there was a foreign exchange student attending Sehome who was friends with Megan and Ross. Armando was from Colombia, South America and was on a year-long program through a different organization. One morning over the school intercom, there was an announcement that they were looking for a new home placement for him. He was crushed because nobody had told him that his current host family didn’t want him anymore! I went to the school office, called Joan at work “Geology. Joan” and asked if Armando could come live with us for the rest of the school year. She said yes. Immediately. On the phone. On the spot. Armando is still our South American brother.
Joan’s deepest passion was quilting. Her mother, Ida, had been a quilter and once Joan retired, she was able to devote even more time and space to quilting. She gave quilts to kids and grandkids for every baby’s birth, graduation, and wedding. All family members have all been willingly and gratefully inundated with quilts. She entered quilts in the Lynden Fair and won blue ribbons. She attended quilt retreats. She founded the quilt ministry at church. She was still getting together with her beloved quilt group up until 3 weeks before she died.
When Paul and Joan moved to Bellingham, they bought a house on Undine Street where Joan lived for the next 58 years until her death. Megan and her family lived next door for 15 years, so Joan was able to exude her grandmotherly skills to those 4 grandsons daily. In 2006, Scott’s family moved to Bellingham which allowed more intensive grandmother time with those granddaughters. The red house was a haven for all her offspring. No less than 18 of her 35 descendants have lived in that house for a few months or years. She welcomed them all. The red house continues to be the anchor.
Joan was predeceased by her husband Paul in 2007, by her siblings Ken, Jean, and Bill Dorsey, and by her parents, Dick and Ida Dorsey.
She is survived by three children, Scott Roley (& Diana), Megan Davidson (& Curt), and Ross Roley (& Kym); ten grandchildren, Austin Davidson, Nolan Davidson (& Erica), Carlin Davidson (& Kristen), Boone Davidson (& Emma), Ruby Scala (& Joe Onimus), Rachel Roley (& Chris Sugino), Renee Roley, Gwendolyn Roley (& Raphaël Rouillard), Ben Roley (& Hayley Troberg), and Sasha Roley; nine great-grandchildren, Jillian Medina (& Genaro), Landon Davidson, Bria Davidson, Hazel Davidson, Clover Joan Davidson, Rowan Davidson, Fox Davidson, Hawk Davidson, and Juliette Sugino; and one great-great-grandchild: Carmen Medina.
Memorial visitation will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2026, from 10 am until time of celebration of life service at 11 am, at Moro Presbyterian Church. Pastor Marc Wendelton will officiate. Inurnment will follow at Moro Presbyterian Cemetery.
Online condolences and guestbook may be found at www.eliaskallalandschaaf.com.
Elias, Kallal & Schaaf Funeral Home
