Joan McGowin Hannan passed from this life to the next on July 14, 2022, after a short battle with cancer. Joan was born on October 18, 1959, in Gadsden, Alabama to Martha Norton McGowin and Joseph Jackson McGowin. She graduated from Decatur High School in 1978. Joan also received her BS in Biology from Athens State College and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Mississippi State University.
While working for the Center for Macromolecular Crystallography at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Joan met and married her loving husband, Jeffrey Alan Hannan. Joan and Jeff spent most of their married life in Huntsville where Joan worked for Teledyne Brown, Gray Research, Missile Defense Agency, and most recently, as a Mission Manager for NASA.
Joan loved her family and friends, shopping, traveling, knitting, work, Alabama football, the Atlanta Braves, and her devoted cat Lilly.
Joan was preceded in death by her parents, Martha and Jack McGowin. She is survived by her husband, Jeff Hannan; children Jackson, Brett and Drew Hannan; sisters Ellen Canada (Eric), Susan Hall (Roger), and Jill Cole (Kenny); grandson, Owen Hannan; and several beloved nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews. She was loved and will be greatly missed by all.
A Celebration of Life for Joan will be held at First United Methodist Church, 120 Greene St SE, Huntsville, AL, on Wednesday, July 20. Visitation will begin at 1:30 and the service will follow at 3:00. The church will live stream the service.
The family would like to thank Jennifer Jacobs and staff at Affinity Hospice for their great care of Joan. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Affinity Hospice or your favorite charity.
