Joan (Joni) Holliday

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (2 Timothy 4:7).

Joni was born to Juneal (Vickerman) and Norman Harding on August 23, 1968 in Kennewick, Washington. Joni loved her parents and siblings (Janet, Rick, and Dave) and felt blessed to have grown up loved by her family. Janet was Joni's confidant and counselor. They spoke almost every day and discussed everything. Rick was Joni's role model. Joni became a teacher because of Rick. Much like her father, Joni was a very active person that loved animals. She seemed to always be doing something with friends and family. Joni cherished her many memories of childhood outings and adventures with her parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, siblings, and cousins. In addition to being competitive, Joni was a gifted athlete. As a child she played soccer and basketball, often on the boys' teams. In high school she played on two state champion Girls' basketball teams before graduating from Kamiakin High School in 1986. Joni attended Columbia Basin College before transferring to Washington State University, where she majored in Physical Education. Joni graduated from WSU in May 1991. It was at WSU where Joni met Keith. After playing intramural coed softball together during the fall of 1990, they took a western swing dance class together in the spring of 1991 where they fell in love. Joni and Keith were married May 16, 1992 in Kennewick. From 1992 to 1998 Joni taught physical education at Amistad and Edison Elementary Schools in Kennewick. In July 1998, Joni and Keith relocated to Spokane for Keith's work. This is when Joni and Keith became parents. Joni devoted her life to her boys: Ryan, Jared, and Keith. Joni filled their lives with activities to do, places to see, and people to visit. In 2011 the family moved to Colville, Washington again for Keith's work. Joni loved the house and property in Colville. She fed the deer, raised chickens, gardened, and enjoyed walking the property with Keith and their dogs. It was in Colville where Joni started playing tennis. Tennis would give her three very close friends (Paula, Deena, and Wendy) with whom she had many memorable excursions and adventures. Colville also provided a church family at First Baptist that has loved and supported Joni and Keith through difficult times. When the boys finished school, Joni started teaching again at the Colville Campus of Spokane Community College. It was at this time Joni started playing pickleball. Joni became passionate about pickleball. It became her ministry. She helped to obtain permission to use the SCC gymnasium for the community to play pickleball during the winter months and was instrumental in getting the outdoor courts established in Colville. She taught pickleball classes at SCC, and became a Professional Pickleball Ambassador. It gave her joy to introduce someone to the sport, and they usually became a new friend in the process. She loved to play pickleball, and in the fall of 2019 Joni qualified and played in the National Pickleball Tournament at Palm Springs. It was just after nationals that Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer. After a two-year battle she was declared cancer free, but then she was diagnosed with a second unrelated cancer of the colon in April 2022. Joni went to be with Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior, on January 24, 2023 at 54 years of age. Joni was preceded in death by her father, Norman; father-in law, Ralph; and grandparents, Earl and Eleanor Vickerman and Abe and Fern Harding and Alice Holliday. Joni is survived by her mother, Juneal; husband, Keith; sons, Ryan and Jared; sister, Janet (Mike); brothers, Rick (Judi) and Dave (Carolyn); mother-in law, Joann; brother-in law, Brian (Heather), and many uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.

A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Colville (915 S. Cedar St., Colville, WA) on February 4th at 1 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Joni's memory to Bible Study Fellowship (https://www.bsfinternational.org/support/). Bible Study Fellowship helped Joni develop a personal relationship with her Lord and Savior, and that relationship has blessed our family in so many ways.