In 1947, she married Dick Curtiss, a student
from Whitman who also majored in music. They spent many hours
after work, playing golf at the Lewiston Country Club. Bill
Welch, former USGA National Amateur Public Links Champion 1941,
and professional at Lewiston, encouraged Joan and her game
improved to a handicap of 4. She won the Lewiston Women’s
Championship and later on, the Idaho State Women’s
Championship in 1949.
Joan and Dick moved to Pomeroy, WA., where
Dick had his first job teaching music. While living in Pomeroy,
their first daughter, Chris, was born in 1950. Then in
1952, they welcomed their second daughter, Kathy. A third
daughter, Patty,
arrived on the scene in 1959 after the family moved to Tacoma.
In Tacoma, Joan taught classroom music in the Bethel school district then
moved into a new field - television music. Produced by the
Clover Park school district, channel 56 was a closed circuit TV where
she worked for seven years. It was during this time Joan lost her husband following
open-heart surgery.
As a widow, Joan was invited to join
Fircrest GC and play golf again. In
1967, Joan met Merrill Teats, a 7 handicapper, where else, but
at the golf course. They were married in June of 1967 and played
lots more golf. Since having retired from teaching, she found
she missed
being around young people, so Joan became chairman of the Junior
Golf program at Fircrest.
All three of her daughters played junior golf at
Fircrest with many other young people. Patty became a serious
competitor on the high school golf team, with Jim Sulenes
coaching and encouraging her. She was awarded a golf scholarship
at University of New Mexico where she played collegiate golf for
four years. Patty won the Washington State Women’s Amateur
Title at Meridian Valley in 1979, but was too old for WJGA! Joan started
WJGA in 1977, with the support of Merrill and their
family, which now had grown to include two step-children, Mac
and Marsha.
In 1977, with the inception of
WJGA well under way, the Teats home, home to the first
WJGA office, was taken over. Two bedrooms and the recreation room
were filled with supplies and people devoting many hours to WJGA.
Later, daughter Chris would join the WJGA staff and become an integral part of the WJGA team
developing
the publicity, fundraising, and computer aspects of junior golf
administration.
In addition to founding WJGA, Joan also became a director in the PNGA, and a
member of the USGA Junior Girls Committee. In 1995, she was awarded the
honor of being inducted into the Pacific Northwest Hall of Fame for distinguished achievement in amateur golf competition
and outstanding contributions in amateur golf in the Pacific
Northwest.
From 1936 to the present, golf has been
a integral part of her life and a big influence on her decision
making through the years. As one sports writer put it at
the 1979 WJGA State Championship, "Golf is in the blood of this
family".
