JoAnn Barbara O'Hara

Born in Brooklyn NY, she moved to Portland Oregon when she was 12. After graduating from Roosevelt High School, she attended University of Oregon for a year.

She transferred to Lewis and Clark College where she met her future husband, Bill O’Hara. There, she was in a sorority and a cheerleader and helped the football star pass his classes and stay eligible. Later, they married at Camp Pendleton while Bill was in the Marine Corps.

They began their journey of raising a large family while Bill began his teaching career. This journey took them from Oregon to Arizona, back to Oregon and finally settling in San Jose in 1963. Their seven children, Sheryl Driskell (George), Casey O’Hara (Lezli), Bridgett O’Hara, Clancey O’Hara (Pat), Heather O’Hara -Baumhardt (Andrew). Kelly O’Hara and Cassidy O’Hara (Lisa) kept Joann very busy, but she always made time for a good book, or good conversation over coffee with her lifelong Sylvan Drive neighbors. A voracious reader, she valued education and pushed her children to be critical thinkers and be open to both sides of any argument.

Her pragmatic approach to life was captured in a letter she wrote to her grandchildren that contained her three golden rules: Always try your best, treat others as you want to be treated and always be true to yourself.

Preceded in death was her husband Bill and daughter Kelly and we find great comfort knowing they are all together once again