Joan Slavik Dowdle Gura passed away at home on June 26, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. A woman of profound faith and devotion, Joan's life was marked by her unwavering commitment to God, family and friends, whom she diligently prayed for during her daily Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Joan was born on September 26, 1939 in Murphy, North Carolina, to George Glenn and Josephine Marie Slavik Dowdle. Following the early loss of her mother, when Joan was three years old, she and her brother, Harold Slavik Dowdle, were raised by their devoted father and paternal grandmother, Erma Lonita Ray Dowdle, in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, where Joan loved to roam, explore and help on the farm. They later moved to Virginia, where Joan graduated from Annandale High School in 1958. Her daddy and grandmother raised her in a loving Baptist home of deep faith, a strong work ethic, and Biblical values.
In 1959, Joan was swept off her feet by a young Marine, and after a swift three-month courtship, she married the love of her life, James (Jim) Gura. They remained committed to one another and celebrated sixty-five years of marriage this past August. They raised five children in a faithful Catholic home with strong family values. After numerous moves that included Columbus, GA; Fairfax, VA; Youngstown, OH; Richardson, TX; Columbus, OH and Nashville, TN, they chose to settle with their children in Plano, TX in 1976, where they were actively involved in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal and the Christian Community of God's Delight.
As a young adult, Joan’s spiritual journey led her to the Catholic Church through a profound experience in a military chapel in Washington, D.C., where she developed a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary when she realized God had given His mother to her as her surrogate mother, as documented in Joan’s book, Little House on A Hill. In 1970, she attended a Cursillo Retreat, which further deepened her relationship with God and gave her numerous lifelong friendships rooted in Christ. Joan loved to share her faith and witness of what God had done in her life every opportunity she was given, especially to every doctor, nurse, therapist and caregiver, in hopes that they would know and experience the profound love and mercy God had for them. She also enjoyed telling all about her large family and how blessed she felt to have them.
Joan's professional life included service as a secretary for the U.S. Marine Corps in Arlington, Virginia, where she held Top Secret clearance and worked as a classified documents courier. She later worked as a paralegal and, finally, as a truant officer. Joan had a fulfilling career as the sole truant officer for Plano ISD, where she pioneered an effective truancy program for the district and served there for over twenty years. In this role, she worked tirelessly to help at-risk youth until her retirement in December 2002. After retiring, Jim and Joan moved to Ennis, TX, where they were active at St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church and CHRP retreats for several years. Upon their declining health, they returned to McKinney, TX in 2017 to be closer to their children, and they enjoyed the many dear friends they made at The Artistry at Craig Ranch.
Joan remained a devoted wife and adoring mother and grandmother, and she lovingly cooked everything for her family from scratch. She was known to have more than enough “sides” at every meal. She crocheted each of her children and grandchildren an afghan. In addition to crocheting, Joan enjoyed drawing, water-coloring, and playing cribbage or dominoes. Despite her caring demeanor, Joan was known to play a prank or two for laughs, including the time she fried a dishcloth to serve Jim for dinner instead of giving him chicken fried steak. Above all else, however, Joan prayed, interceding for the many intentions of her cherished family and friends.
Joan is survived by her beloved husband, Jim; her five children: Debbie (Mike) Jones, John Gura, Charles (Ann) Gura, Kathy (Tim) Terzis, and Chrissy (John) Keller; 16 grandchildren: Phillip (Christine) Jones, Stephanie (Tapley) Holland, Chris (Blair) Jones; Meaghan Gura, Brendan Gura; Rachael (John) Klufa, John Paul (Olivia) Gura, Michelle (Salvatore) Cucco, Jacob (Annette) Gura; Auriel (Cole) Ganz, Ashley Terzis, Annabelle Leigh Terzis, Aristotle Terzis; Madeleine Keller, Mark Keller, and Maeve Keller; and 26 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Josephine Marie Slavik Dowdle and George Glenn Dowdle, and her brother Harold Slavik Dowdle.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church in Allen, TX on July 23, 2025 - Rosary at 1:30 pm, Mass at 2:30 pm. Interment will be on August 2, 2025 at 10:00 am at Saints Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church and Cemetery in Buckholts, Texas.
If donations are preferred in lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Joan Gura’s memory to The Christian Community of God’s Delight or The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. ( https://godsdelight.org/ ; https://www.misacor-usa.org/ ) The family welcomes prayers for the repose of her soul.