Joan D. Dostaler

Joan Dostaler has served as a Houghton County 4-H volunteer leader of the oldest club in copper country for over 50 years. In addition to teaching numerous 4-H arts and crafts, she promotes a number of 4-H community service projects annually. She and the Trap Rock 4-H Club members volunteer at the senior citizen home, sew pillow cases for shelters, send items to troops deployed overseas, make ornaments for the Humane Society, participate in Make a Difference Day and support both the Salvation Army toy and food drives. Since 1990, the club has also participated in the Adopt-A-Highway program in memory of Joan’s mother and is responsible for clean-up along 3 miles on M20. Dostaler teaches watercolor painting as a stress reliever and has facilitated workshops on watercolor and community service locally and at the North Central Region 4-H Volunteer Forum. She has held every office for the Houghton County 4-H Council numerous times and has chaired many of county’s 4-H committees. She has received a number of awards for her service including the County 4-H Leader of the Year, County 4-H Family of the Year, and two-time Houghton County Fair Homemaker of the Year. In addition to her service to 4-H, Dostaler also advocates for Cystic Fibrosis and volunteers at Van Riper State Park where she teaches crafts and holds silent auctions to help pay for new playground equipment at the park. Dostaler was a student loan coordinator for Finlandia University Suomi College for nearly 14 years. She then served nearly ten years in the degree services office at Michigan Technological University before retiring in 2004.