Joanne Uzzell Renninger

Joanne Uzzell Renninger passed away on January 28, 2019 at Porter Hospice in Centennial, Colorado. Surrounding her were her three daughters and a hospice volunteer singing her anthem “My Way.” Joanne was born on October 6, 1927 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the youngest of 5 children of Dr. Edward Foy and Marian Gunter Uzzell. After an idyllic childhood in Atlantic City and later Ventnor, New Jersey, she attended Atlantic City High School. When war broke out in 1941, her parents sent Joanne to King’s Hall Academy in Quebec Province, Canada, to keep her safe from a feared attack on the American shore. After the war, she returned to Atlantic City and, foregoing her senior year in high school, she attended Ogontz College in Pennsylvania. The following year, Joanne and her beloved older sister, Marian “Betty” Boyd, shared a double wedding, attended by more than five hundred friends and family, in the first major social event in Atlantic City after the war.

In 1966, shortly after the return of her eldest child, George, from the Vietnam war, Joanne moved with her children to the Ft. Lauderdale, Florida area where she worked in retail sales. For much of her adult life she was a single mother, sometimes working two jobs in order to provide for her children. She never complained. Many years later, she moved to Statesville, North Carolina, to be closer to Betty and family. She eventually relocated to Tallahassee, Florida where she lived with her daughter Tina for many years. For the past 4 years, Joanne lived in the Denver area caring for, and being cared for by her daughters, Lydie and Connie. Because Joanne had a lifelong love of animals, a bench at the Denver Zoo was dedicated to her in honor of her 90th birthday.

Joanne loved the members of her family unconditionally. Her greatest happiness was celebrating any occasion where her family was together. Joanne’s life was enriched by the love of her many dear friends, especially Edna and Maureen, with whom she often shared her favorite guilty pleasure,“wine time.” Joanne’s family wishes to extend special thanks to her devoted companions Kate and Dianne for their love and support.

Joanne was predeceased by her parents, her brothers Edward Foy, Jr., and John Gunter, and her sisters Mary Jane “Pat,” and Betty, and her beloved son George Renninger. She leaves behind to grieve and celebrate her always, her daughters, Anne “Tina” Furlow (William) of Tallahassee, Florida, Lydie Teeuwen of Greenwood Village, Colorado and Dr. Constance Giarratana (Charles) of Englewood, Colorado. She will be loved and missed by her many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held at a later date at the family cemetery in Pomona, New Jersey. For anyone who would like to do something in Joanne’s memory, the family suggests a donation to Porter Hospice, 5020 East Arapahoe Rd., Centennial, Colorado, 80122, where angels walk the halls in scrubs.