Joan Gillespie Redford

Joan Gillespie Redford was born on August 11, 1941 in Jacksonville, Florida. She was the youngest of four girls, and her relationships with her beloved parents, Wylie and Lottie Gillespie, and sisters Ruth, Nancy and Gail, shaped her throughout her childhood years. For much of Joan’s youth, the family lived in a home with steps leading right down to the beach, which planted in her a lifelong love for the ocean.

Joan pursued her interest in music as a student at Florida State University, graduating as a music major with an emphasis in organ. In her twenties, she moved to California and took a job teaching at an elementary school in Los Angeles, hoping to eventually find a job teaching music. It was in Los Angeles that she met the love of her life, Courts Redford. The two of them shared a strong faith, and their romance soon turned into a deep love. In April of 1965, the two married. Joan retired early from her teaching path when she became a mother in September of 1966, with the birth of daughter Sharon. In 1970, Joan and Courts were blessed with a second daughter, Laura.

It was around this time that Joan and Courts decided they wanted to devote themselves to full-time Christian ministry. They had been actively involved in their church in Hollywood, but after a few visits to a church meeting in an old adobe building in Highland Park, they felt that this was the area where God was leading them. They moved into a large, two-story, wooden-frame house and posted a large sign on front: “Los Angeles for Christ”. Here Joan and Courts devoted themselves to evangelism and discipleship, welcoming their neighbors to Bible-based youth clubs and Bible studies for all ages. Joan played the piano and taught about the love of God at hundreds of these gatherings over the years. She led children’s choirs at the church where their family had found a home, Calvary Bible Church in Burbank. In her bits of spare time, she sewed Halloween costumes, Christmas stockings, and matching dresses for herself and the girls. In 1976, Joan and Courts were thrilled to discover they were expecting again, and Jon made their family complete.

In the following decades, Joan and Courts continued and extended their ministry, taking many “Operation Andrew” trips to share the gospel with old friends and many others they met across the country. They became proud grandparents to Sharon and Bill’s three sons, Emmet, Sam and William. Then, after 40 years of ministry, when Courts began suffering from advancing symptoms of dementia, Joan decided they should relocate to the Bay Area. They moved into an assisted living facility in Pleasant Hill, where Joan devoted herself to supporting Courts in every way possible. As his condition worsened, he moved into a round-the-clock care home, and Joan rented a separate apartment a few freeway exits away. She still spent all her daytime hours at Courts’s facility, feeding him, watching TV and sitting outside together. She was there with him until the very end, when a heart attack ended his life, in 2014.

Joan had several years of health after Courts’s passing, spending peaceful time in her lovely apartment, attending women’s Bible study and prayer groups, enjoying time with Bill and Sharon’s family in Martinez, searching garage sales for hidden treasures for Laura’s eBay store, and driving herself up and down I-5 to visit Jon, Cindy and their twin girls, Emma and Mia. Then, in 2019, after bouts of vertigo that led to her breaking her hip, Joan suffered a sudden and severe stroke. She received the best care in hospitals and recovery facilities but never regained her ability to walk or talk. To the very end, she was able to track people who entered her room, and most times would offer a lovely smile to them. She had the joy of meeting her final grandchild, little Joshua.

With hospice and her wonderful caregivers helping her every step of the way, Joan passed from this life in the early hours of May 24, but we know her story doesn’t end here. She had great expectations about being in the presence of God, as well as reuniting with her beloved family and friends who had gone on before her. We love her and miss her very much, but we are grateful to know she is now whole and fully restored to her true self.