JoAnn Booth

She was born JoAnn Marie Opperman on May 31, 1927, in Indianapolis, Indiana, a first generation American-born daughter of German immigrant August Heinrich “Henry” Opperman and wife Helen, the second of three daughters. She attended IPS School 84 and Broad Ripple High School, graduating in 1945.

After high school, she enrolled in nursing school at Indianapolis General Hospital, later known as Wishard Memorial and now Eskenazi. She was proud of her accomplishments in nursing school and the skills she acquired there which served her throughout her career in healthcare.

It was at Indianapolis General Hospital in 1947 that JoAnn met her future husband and love of her life, Dr. Boynton H. Booth, then a resident in Dermatology. They married in 1948 and enjoyed what JoAnn described as fifty-nine ½ years of happiness, before Dr. Booth passed in 2007.

JoAnn and Boynton had three children: Cynthia, Sally and Charles. She assisted her husband in the Dermatology practice he founded in 1950 at the Hume-Mansur building in downtown Indianapolis. JoAnn’s faithful assistance as both the practice administrator and nurse helped him to practice for fifty-five years. After his death in 2007, she continued to assist her daughter Dr. Sally Booth at the Dermatology practice until 2021 when she was still tirelessly performing administrative duties.

JoAnn and her husband loved traveling throughout the U.S., Mexico and Europe, and cruising the Caribbean with friends. She and Boynton were avid art and antique collectors, and for many years the family enjoyed spending time at their second home on Beaver Island, Michigan. She was ever the gracious lady with a beautiful smile. In later years she loved spending time with friends and neighbors at Hoosier Village in Zionsville, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and her adorable dog Frannie. JoAnn’s friends describe her as a selfless, welcoming woman with a true joie de vivre. She was preceded in death by her husband Boynton, parents Henry and Helen, sisters Annetta and Margaret, and granddaughter Sarah Booth. She is survived by her children, Cynthia, Sally (Rob), and Charles (Alice), grandchildren Daniel (Emily) and Eli (Ann) and great-grandchildren Athena and Ava and her dog Frannie.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to: IMPD Mounted Patrol (impdmountedpatrol.org), Neuroendocrine Tumor Research Foundation (netrf.org), and the Humane Society of Indianapolis (indyhumane.org).

A visitation for JoAnn will be held Saturday, February 5, 2022 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Crown Hill Funeral Home & Cemetery, 700 W. 38th St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46208, followed by a celebration of life from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.crownhill.org for the Booth family.