Joanne Louise Smith

Joanne Louise Wesonig Smith, 87, of New Bern, North Carolina passed away on Tuesday, March 4, 2025. Joanne was born on February 27, 1938, in Tucson, Arizona to the late John Paul Wesonig and Cecilia Marie DeMuynck Wesonig.

Joanne was born in Tucson, but grew up in Olathe, Kansas, where she graduated from Olathe High School in 1956. In her forties, she proudly went on to receive a nursing degree from Johnson County Community College and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Avila College. She held various positions in nursing, ultimately retiring from the Missouri Department of Mental Health. After retirement, she went on to have many adventures, including owning and running a deli in Puerto Nuevo, Mexico. She loved to travel, collect art and pottery, and watch birds off her back porch in North Carolina. In her seventies and eighties, she was able to travel to Washington DC, visit New York by train for a Chihuly exhibit, and see the Rolling Stones (at the age of 81!) in Jacksonville, Florida.

Thankful for her life and continuing in her memory are her children Stuart Smith, daughter-in-law Lisa Smith, daughter Sherrie Smith, grandchildren Orion Metzger, Trevor Gergurich, Alexandra Freeman-Smith, and Lily Smith. She also leaves her nieces, Laura Miller, Karen Smith, Kelli Higginson, Kristi Shepherd, Kim Gramling, Cordy Wesonig, Celia Wesonig, nephew Stephen Smith, and cousins Charles Wesonig, Michele Wesonig, and Jon Herron. She was preceded in death by her brother Ronald Wesonig, nephew Mark Wesonig, and beloved cousin Beverly Herron.

Cotten Funeral Home is honored to serve the family and friends of Joanne Smith.