Joan Harris Nordman's Obituary
Joan Harris Nordman, 89, a life-long resident of Camarillo, Oxnard and San Bernardino, California, passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 after living a full life and a valiant fight with Alzheimer’s Disease
Joan was born on October 2, 1923 in San Bernardino and attended local schools there and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1945. Joan was a member of the Harris family who established the Harris Company in San Bernardino, Redlands, and Riverside among other communities in the Inland Empire. Joan married attorney Ben Nordman in 1947, and settled in Oxnard where Ben and his longtime friend and former law partner, Judge Jerome H. Berenson founded the firm of Nordman & Berenson. Joan later relocated to Camarillo.
As a longtime resident of Oxnard and Camarillo, Joan made valuable contributions to the area. She served as an officer and on the Board of Directors of Ojai Valley School, a member of the Assistance League and Las Patronas and contributed many hours of volunteer work and was the head of the Tri-Counties Blood Bank. Also, Joan strongly supported the Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice, the New West Symphony, the United Way of Ventura County, the Ventura County Museum and numerous other organizations as well as the Nordman Public Service Award given annually to recognize a Ventura County attorney demonstrating the ideals of public service.
Joan was a staunch supporter of the University of Kansas’ Jayhawks, especially radio station KJHK, the Department of Film and Video at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, Echo Horizon School in Culver City, Foothills and Colorado Academies, both located in Denver and was a longtime contributor to the scholarship fund established by Joan’s father, Leslie Irving Harris, at California State University, San Bernardino.
Both Joan and her sister Babette Harris Meyers (deceased), believing in the importance of travel while making family first, made certain that the ties between members of their immediate and extended families stayed strong, leading to many memorable family reunions both near and afar.
Joan is survived by her daughter, Leslie Pedersen and her husband Richard of Arvada, Colorado and son Mark Nordman and his wife, Deborah of Los Angeles, California, four grandchildren, Emily (Mrs. Brandon) Biederman and Erin Pedersen and Jonas and Leah Nordman and two great grandchildren, Lilly and Ava Biederman, two nephews, Harris Meyers and Jess Meyers and their respective families, her life-long dear friend, Carolyn Berenson and her immediate family.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association and Hospice, 1996 Eastman Avenue, Suite 101, Ventura, CA 93003
www.lmvna.org or an organization of the donor’s choice.
On line condolences may be left to www.bobbittchapel.com
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