Obituary: Joan Wilson

I have just heard the sad news that Joan Wilson passed away peacefully in Heanor Memorial Hospital on 10th April aged 83 years. Funeral service will take place at All Saints Church, Marlpool on Tuesday 19th April at 1.30pm, followed by interment at Marlpool Cemetery.  Immediate family flowers only. Donations to be divided between “Heanor Memorial Hospital Charitable Trust Fund and Stepping Stones” (cheques payable to Gillotts Funeral Service donations account and may be sent care of Gillotts Funeral Service, 1a Abbott Street, Heanor, Derbyshire, DE75 7QD. Tel: 01773 713921).

Joan and her late husband Lewis were one of the most successful sequence dancing couples of all time. As well as being excellent teachers and demonstrators, and Carl Alan award winners, they were prolific arrangers of prizewinning dances in the 60′s, 70′s and early 80′s, and in my view our best ever inventors. Many of their arrangements remain popular to this day: Tango Suhali, Rhythm Jive, Paso Deena, Samba Katrina & Helena Quickstep, to name but a few. In later years, Joan was often hired as script technician for the inventive comps – she knew her stuff and did a good job in correcting the mistakes.  She will be sadly missed.