Joan Renee Cheatham Gunter passed away on June 8, 2026. Born in Marietta, Georgia, on September 27, 1959, she spent most of her life on Lakeside Court on Lake Allatoona.

If you've ever heard one of our family stories, chances are Mom was somewhere in the middle of it. Whether it involved the lake, the drag strip, tadpoles for Christmas, a motorhome road trip, a margarita, or one of the grandkids talking her into something she probably shouldn't have agreed to, Joan was usually part of the adventure.

What started as a small cabin by the lake became the backdrop for more than forty years of family life. It was where birthdays were celebrated, summers were spent at the dock, and countless family memories were made.

Joan and Jerry Gunter shared nearly 48 years of marriage. Jerry always considered himself lucky to have such a good wife. He summed up their marriage in a way only he could: "Sometimes I didn't think she loved me... but she did. She put up with me for 48 years."

If you knew Joan, you knew she was tough. She wasn't overly sentimental, she didn't sugarcoat things, and she wasn't afraid to tell you exactly what she thought. She was strong-willed, resilient, and capable of handling just about anything life put in front of her.

Many people knew Joan through Brandi's World Famous Hotdogs, where she became a familiar face to customers and friends. Before that, she spent years helping with the family's sheetrock businesses, doing whatever needed to be done.

Joan loved life on the water. She taught her daughters to ski and later passed that love on to her grandchildren, helping them learn everything from tubing and kneeboarding to wakeboarding and surfing. She also enjoyed weekends at the drag strip, traveling in the motorhome, and a good margarita from LongHorns, Ernie's or Henry's Louisiana Grill.

Joan was the beloved grandmother of Tucker, Jersey, Gunter, Emerson, Hayes, and Bristol, and great-grandmother of Carter and Ellie. While she could be tough on just about anyone else, her grandchildren knew they could get her to do almost anything. One family favorite story began with riding go-carts and somehow ended with a five-hour drive home because the grandkids convinced Grandma to play a game called "No Left Turns." What should have been a simple trip became an adventure, and Joan happily went along with it.

In her later years, as her health declined, she continued to ask about Carter and Ellie and loved hearing what they were doing.

Joan is survived by her husband, Jerry Glenn Gunter; her daughters, Sabrina Gunter and Brandi Wilson, and son-in-law Les Wilson; her sister, Vickie Lynn Cheatham Barber; her grandchildren, Tucker, Jersey, Gunter, Emerson, Hayes, and Bristol; her great-grandchildren, Carter and Ellie; and many nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends who will miss her dearly.

For more than forty years, Lakeside Court was more than an address-it was home. It was where family gathered, stories were told, and memories were made year after year. Joan's story is forever woven into that little cul-de-sac on Lake Allatoona and into the lives of the family she leaves behind.

She was tough. She was unforgettable. And she will be missed more than words can ever say.

She lived life on her own terms, and if she thought you were wrong, you were probably going to hear about it unless you were the grandkids(they did no wrong).