Joan Kathryn (Peterson), Bellinger, Age 45 of Manistee, formerly of Vassar, died Wednesday, May 27, 2015 at West Shore Medical Center in Manistee.
She was born on November 13, 1969 in Saginaw, MI the daughter of Gerald and Charlotte (Wellemeyer) Peterson.
She was a graduate of Vassar High School Class of 1988, and later earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work from Ferris State University. In July of 2000 she married Timothy Paul Bellinger at the Ludington United Methodist Church.
Joan was employed as a social worker by the Michigan Department of Human Services at the Manistee Office. She previously had been employed by Catholic Family Services in Ludington in the Family First Program and by the Mason County Eastern School District, where she also coached volleyball.
She was a member of Faith Covenant Church in Manistee.
Joan had enjoyed playing in the hand bell choirs of the Manistee and Ludington United Methodist Churches. She loved the outdoors, camping and horses. Joan especially enjoyed being with her family.
Surviving are her husband, Timothy P. Bellinger of Manistee; her two children, Elisha Levi ad Grace Ellen; her parents, Gerald and Charlotte Peterson of Vassar, Michigan; her sister, Michelle (Kevin) Pearson of Naperville, IL, and her brother, Mark Peterson of Bay City, Michigan, and her mother-in-law, Rosemary Bellinger of Lake, Michigan.
Friends can leave messages for the family at the Oak Grove Funeral Home site www.oakgrovefh.com. Instead of flowers, donations to a fund for Elisha and Grace or the National Right to Life Foundation may be made.