Joan E. Jovien, 68, of Darien died Friday, March 10, in Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. Born in Oak Park, Mrs. Jovien worked for Edward Don & Co., a restaurant-supply company in North Riverside. During her 12-year career at Edward Don, Mrs. Jovien was a customer service representative. She processed orders from clients and put items on order for the company’s salespeople. She enjoyed working for the company because her hours were compatible with her children’s school schedules. She worked from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., which allowed her to return home before her children finished their high school day. “She wanted to be home when the children came home,” said her husband, Roy. Mrs. Jovien retired from Edward Don in the 1980s. Just after graduating from high school, Mrs. Jovien also worked for the Burlington Northern Railroad for a few years. She quit that position in the early 1950s to live with her husband, who at the time was in the military, stationed in Austria. While in Europe, Mrs. Jovien and her husband did a large amount of traveling. “Things were so economical there,” Roy Jovien said. “We were able to go to Venice, Rome and Paris.” In January 1955, Mrs. Jovien and her husband returned to the United States with their 7-week-old daughter, who was born in Europe. The couple had to work hard to keep their baby comfortable during the first leg of the trip, a cold train ride from Austria to Italy, as well as on a two-week voyage across the Atlantic on a troop ship. “It wasn’t a very enjoyable trip, but we did it,” Roy Jovien said. Besides her husband, Mrs. Jovien is survived by two sons, Jeffrey and Gregory; a daughter, Vicki; two sisters, Gloria Herold and CeCi Kueltzo; and two grandchildren. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Modell Funeral Home, 7710 S. Cass Ave., Darien.
