Joy Blum, 90, of Burlington, died Thursday, March 20, 2008, at Genesis Hospital in Davenport, Iowa.

            Born October 20, 1917, near Nauvoo, Illinois, she was the daughter of Edward S. and Regina Bywater.  On December 31, 1945, she married Carl R. Blum, a longtime Burlington architect.  He preceded her in death in 1980.

            Mrs. Blum was a graduate of Nauvoo High School and attended Western Illinois University and Greeley State Teacher’s College in Colorado.  She taught elementary school in Illinois and Iowa. 

            She enjoyed music, nature, fishing, traveling, dancing, volunteering, and playing bridge and pinochle.

            She was a faithful member of Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church as well as a member of a number of organizations, which included P.E.O., King’s Daughters, Woman’s Club, and Retired Teachers.

            Survivors include three children, Annette Blum (husband, Jim May) of Brevard, North Carolina; Carolyn Witte and Carl S. Blum, both of Charleston, South Carolina; plus devoted nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews.

            Her parents, husband and two sisters, Ruth Bywater and Frnaces Soland both of Nauvoo, Illinois preceded her in death.

            Her spirit lives on in the hearts and lives of those she loved.