Joan@SobelCommunications.com
Joan O‘Brien has been providing research, writing and computer support for Sobel Communications for over thirty years. A former elementary school teacher, she has been interested in computers since the days of the Commodore 64®. An Apple Macintosh user since 1989, she became proficient in many Adobe® programs and prepared media packets, newsletters and other materials for clients.
A Petaluma native who can trace the arrival of many branches of her family in the Petaluma area back to the 1860’s to 1880’s, she lives on property that has been in the family since the 1870s. Joan has followed local history with a keen eye and an appreciation for change.
She and her husband owned and managed the food and beverage facilities at the Holiday Inn in Santa Rosa, California for nine years from 1967 to 1976, and after his retirement owned and operated a seasonal recreational vehicle park in Lund, British Columbia for nine summers. She taught sewing with knits for two years and did bookkeeping for a local restaurant for eight years before joining Sobel Communications.
Joan was the membership secretary for the North Coast Macintosh Users Group for fifteen years and has volunteered at the Petaluma Kaiser Permanente Medical Clinic weekly for over thirty years. A family oriented person, Joan was married for many years, has a son, daughter and two granddaughters.
