Born on June 7, 1947 in Leonardtown, MD, she was the daughter of Lillian Mae Bortner Thompson of Leonardtown, MD and the late William Mack Thompson.
Joanne lived in St. Mary?s County her entire life. She started school in a two-room school house in Clements, MD, moving to Leonardtown School when the new school opened a few months later. She was in the last class that graduated from the old Leonardtown High School in 1965. She attended St. Mary?s Junior College of Maryland and Towson State University earning an Associate of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degree in education. She taught second grade at Oakville School for 30 years, retiring in 2000. She loved teaching small children and always found the good in all of her students. As a teacher she was always cool, calm and collected, never raising her voice to her students.
She was a strong, gentle, kind ? hearted woman of quiet dignity. She always had an optimistic, positive outlook on life. She was a deeply compassionate and caring person, a wonderful daughter, sister and aunt. She enjoyed her family and friends, both young and old. She liked gardening and puttering in the yard. Although she liked to travel she was unable to travel in recent years.
In addition to her mother she is survived by three sisters, Linda A. Thompson of Leonardtown, MD, Diane J. Moffatt and husband Joseph of Leonardtown, MD, and Debra J. Moran and husband Ralph of Hollywood, MD, two nieces, Catherine L. Moffatt and Lauren F. Moran, one nephew, William C. Moran also survives.
The family received friends on Sunday, August 22, 2004, from 5:00 until 8:00 pm at the Brinsfield Funeral Home, P.A. 22955 Hollywood Road, Leonardtown, MD. A Funeral Service was held on Monday, August 23, 2004 at 10:00 am in the Brinsfield Funeral Home Chapel. The Reverend Edward Baker officiated. Interment followed in the Trinity Memorial Gardens, Waldorf, MD.
Pallbearers for Joanne were Joseph Moffatt, Ralph Moran, William C. Moran, Michael Morris, Francis Tippett and Lawrence Cusic.
Memorial contributions may be made to Cancer Support Group c/o of St. Mary?s Hospital, P.O. Box 527, Leonardtown, MD 20650.