JoAnn was born to Juel and Coralette Ray in Birmingham, Alabama
on December 14, 1933.
Following high school she moved to Miami, Florida
where she worked for Southern Bell Telephone company.
While in Miami, she begrudgingly went to a beatnik party with a roommate
and was introduced to a young Air Force officer named Jerry Jones.
Jerry and JoAnn were married on April 29,1961.
They started their married life in Falmouth, Massachusetts at Cape Cod Air Force Base.
Their military journey also took them through Newfoundland, Canada, Marysville and Merced California, and finally to Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane Washington where they settled in 1976.
JoAnn believed in service above self and loved to volunteer, most notably at Meals on Wheels,
and as a deacon at Shadle Park Presbyterian Church.
Her most esteemed title was Mom, she enjoyed driving her children to their many school
and sporting activities and could always be found in the stands at their games.
Always a Southern girl at heart, she showed her love and hospitality through food.
When friends and family came to visit, her first words were always “What can I get you?”
JoAnn loved to travel with her family, visit with life-long friends,
and it was important that she always had a bouquet of lovely smelling flowers on her coffee table.
She will be remembered as a sweet, kind, loving and gentle person who always took an interest in others and had the best memory. She was our family historian, remembering birthdays and anniversaries dating back decades and she will be greatly missed.
JoAnn was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Jerry Jones, and her nephew William Leverett.
She is survived by her children, Jennifer (Khaled) Hashem, Rick (Melissa) Jones and her brother Richard (Ann) Ray. She is also survived by her beloved grandchildren Jenna and Ryan Hashem and Matt and Ben Jones. She was blessed to have loving nieces and nephews and is survived by Dr. Dan Ray (Dr. Lynne Kaminer) and David (Tamra) Ray, Steve (Zetta) Leverett, Sue (Mark) Williams, and Patty Leverett, as well as numerous great nieces and nephews.
A private service will be held at a later date. Committal will take place at The Washington State Veteran’s Cemetery.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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