Sheila Joan was born to Harvey and Edyth Hill in 1932 in Nipawin, Saskatchewan. To friends and family she was simply known as Joan. Active and industrious all of her life, she was a teacher, volunteer, and loving parent. A farmer’s daughter and later a farmer’s wife, she raised five happy children alongside her late husband Arnold Neu.
Joan was the big sister to two brothers, Harry and Edgee, whom she adored and took great pains to keep out of trouble while they grew up in the rural district of Carlea near Aylsham. After high school, she found a passion for education that continued through her entire life. She attended teacher’s college and spent three years tutoring in a one-room schoolhouse. It was during Joan’s years teaching in the Star City area that she met and married her husband Arnold—a farmer who tended to a nearby homestead owned by him and his two brothers.
Joan’s first three children (Noreen, Keith, Linda) were born while they farmed that land. In 1963, Arnold sold his shares in the homestead and the family moved to Hudson Bay to establish a farm in the Veillardville district where they had two more children (Lois, Valerie). With a family of five, there was always plenty of work to do, but once the cooking, cleaning, gardening, and butchering were done Joan still found pleasure baking, sewing, and knitting the time away.
Although marriage and children took precedence over her teaching career, she always worked hard supporting the family enterprises. She took over bookkeeping duties for the family logging company and eventually transitioned that skill into a job working for Larry McDonald at his local Hudson Bay grocery store.
Joan’s affection for her community was easy to see. She was an active volunteer on many committees and as a member of the Lutheran Church she served as the Sunday service organist for many years and was heavily involved in the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. Right up until the week she passed away Joan could be found delivering flowers to Level 4 residents at the hospital on their birthdays.
She loved playing cards, spending time at the lake, curling, and going dancing. There have been loads of rousing games of cards at the Neu’s, many seasons at the Hudson Bay curling rink, lots of dances attended at Veillardville Hall, and countless gatherings of friends and family at the Ruby Lake cabin which she bought in 1973.
Joan was an avid traveler and always seemed to be planning getaways with Arnold, their friends, and the kids. She traveled as far north as Alaska, as far south as the Gulf of Mexico, throughout the United States, coast-to-coast across Canada, and over oceans east and west.
Her five children followed in her footsteps, becoming teachers, accountants, farmers, and community builders. They gave her 12 grandchildren that she adored, always curious about their perspectives and lives. This led her to become an early adopter of smartphones and social media to stay in touch with them as they moved throughout the world.
She is survived by her brother Harry, sisters in law Margaret and Tilly, children Noreen, Ketih (Monica), Linda, Lois and Valerie (Darryn), grandchildren Natasha, Derek, Rebecca, Dietrich, Colton (Sydney) Conner (Jordan), Tasia, Hudson, Harrison, Emily, Emelia, Grace, and great grandchildren Remy and Malakai.

Those so wishing, may make memorial donations to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Saskatchewan or to a charity of personal choice.