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Joan Sledge participates in “keeping the faith” at Marco Lutheran Church by conducting interviews and writing stories for a monthly newsletter each month, which lets people know about outstanding Godly families at her church.

A year and a half ago, she launched another project to record and acknowledge unique stories of WWII veterans in the congregation.

Sledge, someone with little background in writing, says she doesn’t consider herself an author. Her passion is in getting to know people and she believes everyone has a unique story to tell.

“It’s really neat and exciting. Most of the time I do phone interviews,” she said. “I realized that veterans from the WWII era are dying rapidly and I thought it was important to get their story out. So I asked permission from the pastor. I said, ‘There are probably ten or twelve people to write about.’ And he looked at me and smiled, saying, ‘There are probably 30, right here in this room!’ So I said, ‘Well I still want to do it.’ It ended up there were fifty five,” explained Sledge. “The veterans were all so grateful that somebody took time to do it. Each time I talked to someone it motivated me to keep going.”

Sledge grew up in Centralia, Ill. She graduated from Southern Illinois University, where she met her husband. The couple will celebrate 55 years of marriage in Dec. 31.

Submitted photo

Joan Sledge is shown here with her husband, Lyle. She says she enjoys talking with people, meeting them and bringing their story out.

“My husband was in the Navy for a short time as a naval reserve officer. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the fifties. We went together to Hawaii and our first child was born there,” said Sledge, acknowledging her genuine connection with those in the military. “We never returned for 40 years. Since then, we’ve been back a number of times. We absolutely love it in Hawaii.”

Sledge went to college for teaching. She taught in the Lutheran School system in the Fort Lauderdale area, where after twelve years she retired. She was also on staff at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Davie, Fl. for nine years as assimilation director, working with new people that came into the church to help them get familiarized.

“Again, it was a people thing! I absolutely thoroughly enjoyed that. Loved it,” she remembered of those times.

Submitted photo

Joan Sledge, member of Marco Lutheran Church, feels that every single person has a story to tell and that we can learn something from each of these stories. She is shown here during a trip to Hawaii with her husband of nearly 55 years.

Sledge moved to Marco Island in 1998 and has been a member of Marco Lutheran Church ever since, where she continues to express her love of family, God and country through her writing.

“I think those things are all so important and we need to stress them in our community,” Sledge commented.

Sledge enjoys her own family, which includes her husband, Lyle, four children plus their spouses and nine grandchildren, through family reunions on, none other than, July 4 of each year. She spends her free time taking photos of “God’s creation” and also enjoys doing Sudoku puzzles.

“Being nominated for ‘Keeping the Faith’ is flabbergasting,” confessed Sledge. “I’m very surprised.”

Anyone interested in a copy of Sledge’s “WWII Veterans at Marco Lutheran Church” compilation can stop by Marco Lutheran Church office or call 394-0332 for more information.

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To nominate someone from your church for “Keeping the Faith,” e-mail both of your names and a short summary describing them to hoswald@marconews.com.