Joan Ladeburg
From Wyoming to Seattle
By Suzanne Yeagley
Blind since birth, Joan Ladeburg decided to take a chance in her mid-20s and move from Wyoming to Seattle in 1978. Joan was informed by the Department of Vocation and Rehabilitation in Wyoming of the Lighthouse and thought that this organization would help her lead a better life. Although she took a five year break in the 1990s, Joan worked at the Lighthouse for a total of 33 years before retiring in late January 2018.
Joan has worked in many different departments during her time at the Lighthouse. Joan first started in housewares, where she assembled brooms, mops, and dishrags. She also worked in the sewing area for a time, though most of her career was spent as a machinist in the Boeing area. When asked to reflect on how things have changed at the Lighthouse since her first job, Joan says that “It was hot up there in the summer!” but that thankfully, they now have air conditioning. To Joan, working at the Lighthouse meant having a job, building friendships with other people who are blind, and team work.
Joan excelled at working with canteens, and for the past 15 years, she was the number one blind person on the cap connector machine. The cap connector machine puts caps on the canteens, and she could fasten close to 3000 caps per day. When asked, “Do the people who use the canteens know that you do this?” Joan says, “I imagine they do.”
Now that she’s retired, Joan spends her time reading books, listening to music, watching TV, and going to lunch with friends. Although she is enjoying her retirement, Joan feels that being away from the Lighthouse is still bittersweet. Her upcoming plans include going to a party for Bob Mahoney, another former Lighthouse veteran who had worked at the Lighthouse for 43 years, and retired the same day as Joan. Joan is a member of the United Blind of Seattle and King County chapter both affiliates of the American Council of the Blind. She’s been to four or five conventions over the years and looks forward to going to more.