Joan Tapley Obituary (1930

Larry Joan Rhorer Tapley (Joan) passed away peacefully in her home on December 11, 2025. She was 95 years old. The daughter of Lawrence Osborn Rhorer and Amina Squires Rhorer, Joan was a descendant of several prominent pioneer families of Calcasieu Parish including Bilbo, Cole, and Rhorer families. Her grandfather, John W. Rhorer, was the first state representative from Allen Parish; her great grandfather was John McNeese for whom McNeese State University was named. Born September 5, 1930, in Houston, TX Joan grew up in Jennings and Lake Charles, LA. To her the highlight of life in Jennings was watching German POWs marching to and from their assigned work sites during WWII. She attended Immaculate Conception Academy and McNeese College in Lake Charles. After college she worked for several years at Bell Telephone and the Lake Charles American Press. She married Dallas Robert Andrews II in 1951, and together they had three children: Rebecca Sue Andrews, Dallas Robert Andrews III, and Scott Edward Andrews. The couple later divorced, but Joan never let life slow her down. While raising her young children in Oberlin, LA, she worked at the Allen Parish Library and perfected the art of being a single mom with grit, creativity, and a sense of adventure. She took her kids fishing on the Calcasieu River using canes she cut herself from behind the house. One fishing trip ended with Joan and the kids sprinting to the car after wild pigs appeared, proving early on that she could outrun danger when properly motivated. Probably one the bravest things she did was to become a Cub Scout den mother. She made sure her children saw President John F. Kennedy, the original Mercury astronauts, Astros games, Justin Wilson, Billy Graham, and book author and famous baseball player signings when they came to Houston—because Joan believed in exposing her kids to history, culture, and a good story to tell later. After moving to Houston in 1963 she married John Tapley, and together they welcomed a daughter, Julie. In Houston, she returned to library work before joining Stewart and Stevenson Diesel and eventually the Houston Police Department Homicide Division as a data entry operator (the night shift.) She adored this job. To her, it felt like stepping straight into the pages of the murder mystery novels she devoured—minus the danger. Joan was fiercely independent. She didn’t love to cook, but she absolutely loved going out to eat, which she considered a perfectly reasonable life philosophy. She traveled whenever she could and never met a stranger. Her signature conversation starter—“Where are you from?”—was her secret weapon, often leading to new friends, long chats, and occasionally someone trying to figure out how they’d ended up telling their life story to a woman they’d met five minutes earlier. She was always up for an adventure, whether it was nearly missing the cruise ship after wandering too long in port or getting lost with Julie in Yellowstone National Park. For several years, she pursued acting and modeling, appearing in commercials, on-location Hollywood movies, print ads, and local crime reenactment videos. A CASA volunteer for several years, Joan was a natural born social worker. Shopping for clothes, especially at resale shops in Houston’s upscale neighborhoods was her guilty pleasure. Joan loved her children immensely—even when they disagreed with her—and bragged about them, her grandchildren, and her great-grandchildren at every opportunity. She cared deeply for her mother and brother as they aged and never turned away a pet in need of a home. She proudly attended all her grandchildren’s high school graduations, including the ones in Montana, proving that distance was no match for her determination. She spent her life beating the odds. She survived a near-fatal illness after Julie’s birth, a mugging in a Kroger parking lot, multiple car accidents, an intruder in her home, and a battle with a mystery illness eventually diagnosed as Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Through it all, she stayed positive and unshakably tough. She was a longtime member of the United Methodist Church and only stopped attending when Covid began. Joan lived in the same Houston home for more than 51 years. She knew her neighbors well and was blessed to be looked after by them in her later years. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Lawrence (Sonny) Rhorer, and both ex-husbands. She is survived by her children—Rebecca (Becky) Andrews (Ken Johnston) of Baton Rouge, LA; Dallas Robert Andrews III (Bobby) of Houston, TX; Scott Andrews (Loretta) of Helena, MT; and Julie Stratton of Dripping Springs, TX, and five grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and her devoted friend and caretaker, Patricia Guerrero. A Celebration of Life will be held for family and friends in mid-2026 to honor Joan’s long, colorful, and beautifully lived life.