Joan Mary Goebel was born on June 24, 1906, in Marietta, Ohio, to Joseph and Augusta Ryan Goebel. In 1927, she graduated from Trinity College in Washington, D.C. Then, she received her medical degree from the University of Michigan in June 1932. Dr. Goebel obtained licenses to practice medicine in several states, including Michigan in 1933, Pennsylvania in 1935, and West Virginia in 1936. She decided to specialize in anesthesiology and did her residency in that specialty at the New York University Postgraduate Medical School and Hospital from 1941 to 1942. Dr. Goebel received her license to practice medicine in Indiana in 1944. Dr. Goebel relocated to St. Louis when her older brother told her there was a need for anesthesiologists in the city. She received her license to practice medicine in Missouri in 1945. From 1945 to 1960, Dr. Goebel worked at St. Anthony's Hospital where she became chief of the department of anesthesiology. In 1947, she received certification from the American Board of Anesthesiology. In 1948, Dr. Goebel became a fellow in the American College of Anesthesiologists. In 1961, she began working at Lutheran Hospital, and in 1965 she served as the president of the Missouri Society of Anesthesiologists. Dr. Goebel retired in 1971 at the age of 64 and traveled extensively. In November 1971, following her retirement, she volunteered at a hospital in Berekum, Ghana, where she trained staff. Dr. Goebel died at age 90 on April 16, 1997.