Joanne RaVaye (Alkire) Christman, 89 years young, formerly of St. James, passed away at the Emeralds at Faribault Skilled Nursing Facility. Where she was recovering from hip surgery and a sepsis infection.
 Graveside services will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, 2022, at Mt. Hope Cemetery in St. James with Rev. Andy Hermodson-Olsen officiating.
 You may send the family condolences online at www.sturmfh.com.
 Arrangements are with Sturm Funeral Home in St. James.
 Joanne was born on September 23, 1933, to Burrell Earl Alkire and Gertrude Margaret (Schuster) Alkire in Letcher, S.D. She graduated from St. James High School on May 29, 1952. She met Kenneth Melvin Christman at a roller skating rink in St. James. They wed on October 23, 1954, at Salem Lutheran Church in Comfrey at an evening ceremony. She was baptized and confirmed on December 5, 1954, by Pastor Carl G. Fink at Salem Lutheran Church in Comfrey. Their union produced six children: Cheryl Lea, Kenneth Dean Jr., Kathleen RaVaye, Debra Kay, Pamela Jean and Richard Earl. They moved their family from Mountain Lake to Windom, finally making St. James their one true home. Joanne worked outside the home at a bakery, clothing store until they managed their own business. She then was the manager of the Hiway Cafe until they purchased Schwans Cafe and named it Hometown Café. After selling the Hometown they became the maintenance staff at Park Apartments, finally retiring to a home in Ormsby where they could enjoy the small-town lifestyle.
 A few years after Kenny’s passing in 2006 the home became too much for her so she sold it and moved to an apartment in St. James.
 She was a wonderful cook and could make a meal out of anything in the fridge.
 She made everything from scratch, even for the café’s she managed owned. For our birthdays she would make whatever we wanted. Her fried chicken and potato salad was always fought over. She enjoyed bowling and bowling on a team with Ken, they won quite a few trophies. She did a lot of sewing, mostly making clothes for the girls. Retiring gave her more time to enjoy her family, friends, flower gardens, embroidering, reading, word search puzzles, playing cards and even learning to journal all of her many photos.
 Joanne was preceded in death by her husband Ken, daughter Cheryl, son Kenny Jr., mother Gertrude, father Burrell, sisters Ruth Alkire, Donna Sandmeyer, Carrol MacMaster, brother Burrell Alkire Jr., and brother-in-law Henry MacMaster, sister-in-law Pauline Alkire, granddaughter Cheryl R Rettig.
 She will be deeply missed by her children: daughters Kathy (Charles) Noren of St. James, Deb (Craig) Noren of Texas, Pam (Mark) Rettig of Hew Hartford, N.Y., son Rich (Lisa) of Waseca; grandchildren Nick (Jen) Dannhoff, Matt (Sheila) Dannhoff, both of St. James, Brandon (Stacy) Rettig of Whitesboro, N.Y., Samantha Christman of South Dakota, Erik Noren of St. James, Danni Petersen (special friend David) of Rochester, Adam Petersen of Lake Crystal, Courteney Christman of Waseca; eight great-grandchildren and one great-great-granddaughter, nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends.