Joan Reist
Age - 88
November 8, 2023
Joan M. Reist died Nov. 4, after six weeks in hospice care following a cancer diagnosis, a time filled with family and friends who regularly squeezed into her small room to be with her. She was 88. Joan was born on Oct. 5, 1935, to Lucy and Walter Marshall, the oldest of three girls. The Marshall girls grew up in northeast Lincoln's Uni Place. Joan graduated from Northeast High School in 1953. She was a Jobs Daughter "honored queen," and that masonic ordination was just the beginning. She had a long and distinguished career in music education both locally and at the national level, was active in her church, loved traveling and was an excellent cook, though her greatest legacy may be the love for her family, as a mother, sister and Grammy Joan. She studied music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she met Wesley Reist, the clarinetist on the music school faculty. They married in 1955 and two years later she earned her bachelor's degree in music education. She earned her master's degree in 1981. She began her teaching career in Cortland Public Schools, but it was her decision to open a piano studio in 1960 that set her on a path that would define her professional life. For the next 33 years, countless young people learned to play the piano in the studio in the basement of her home - early on with her baby daughter in a crib nearby. She embraced the philosophy of her mentor Robert Pace, that teaching students to play the piano and read music was a way to help them enrich their lives by making music a part of it. In 1973 she joined the university, where her accomplishments included creating and coordinating an academy for all freshman music majors, designing piano proficiency and musicianship programs and supervising graduate assistants. She retired as an assistant professor in 2000. She was a longtime consultant for the National Piano Foundation and the International Piano Teaching Foundation. For many years, she judged music competitions, was a guest instructor at universities and music teacher organizations across the country, as well as presenting at workshops and national conferences and writing for numerous publications. She was a lifelong member of the Music Teachers National Association and was president at the local (Lincoln), state (Nebraska) and national levels. She was a member of Mu Phi Epsilon for more than 60 years. She received distinguished service awards from the national and state music associations and the Nebraska Music Educators Association and received a Mayor's Arts Award in 2012. She was an avid supporter of the arts, including the Lincoln Symphony, the Nebraska Chamber Players, the Lied Center and Friends of Opera. She spent many years after retirement as a docent at Sheldon Museum of Art. When she and Wes were first married, he got a job as choir director at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, and she became an active member for the rest of her life, including singing with the choir for 55 years. She traveled in the United States and abroad and after Wes Died in 1994, she bought a red convertible that she would drive coast to coast staying with friends and relatives along the way. She cooked many wonderful meals for friends and family she welcomed to her home, with a glass of Chardonnay in hand. She embraced her role as Grammy Joan to her three grandsons and their cousins, attending every baseball and football game, every wrestling match, graduation, birthday. She was babysitter, chauffeur, cheerleader and friend. Her license plate said FXYGRMY, and she was - of the highest order. She is survived by her daughter, Margaret (husband, Andrew) Ozaki, grandsons Marshall (wife, Peggy), Grant (wife, Jenny) and Will (girlfriend, Bethany), sisters Margaret Prahl (Tom Patterson) and Jenny Radulovich (Mark), nephews Jay (Jen) Prahl and David (Lisa) Paula, niece Paula Prahl (Brad), great-grandchildren Henry, Eliana and Hattie, honorary grandkids Steven, Cait, Dan and Megan Ozaki and a host of great-nieces and great-nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband. Services will be 10 a. m. Saturday (Nov. 11) at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, 2325 S. 24th St. Internment at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery following a reception at the church. Memorials to the UNL School of Music (care of the NU Foundation), St. Matthew's Church or the Music Teachers National Association.Show more
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