Jo Ann Patricia Farmer

On September 7, 2021, God called one of his Angels on earth, Jo Ann Farmer, to join Him in heaven with her mother, father, two sisters and many other friends and family.  Jo Ann passed away peacefully that day with her husband, son & brother John Hines at her side.   

Jo Ann was born in Chicago, IL in 1944 and moved to Florida with her parents Robert & Helen Hines, sisters Delores “Dee Dee” Shields & Gail Otto, and brother John Hines where she eventually met her to-be husband, the Honorable Judge Gary Farmer, who had just returned from service in Korea with the Marine Corp.  After they had two children, Gary Jr. and Linda, she encouraged her husband to return to school to follow his dream of becoming an attorney, and she supported the family while he concentrated on his studies.  When the family returned to Florida after law school & a clerkship in Toledo, Ohio Jo Ann began her own careers.  She started in banking at Barnet Bank, and eventually became an Executive Vice President and bank manager for United Federal and then California Federal.  When her husband Gary started his own law firm, Jo Ann left banking and became his office manager.  Despite having no experience in a law office, she again excelled and together they built a respected appellate practice that eventually led to Gary being appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal. 

Throughout her life Jo Ann exhibited and shared the most loving & caring of spirits, and after the aforementioned careers Jo Ann decided to follow her heart and found her true calling in social work.  At age 60 she achieved her Masters’ degree in Social Work (graduating with high honors), and she spent seven years working with Hospice of Palm Beach County.  Both through her constant attentive oversight over her entire extended family and through her social work & Hospice care to so many others, Jo Ann touched hundreds if not thousands of lives, always delivering love and affection with her contagious smile. 

There are people in this world, and then there are people who make this world a better place, people who share and deliver love, joy and positive energy wherever they go.  Jo Ann Farmer was the epitome of the latter.  She taught so many - and lived by example - empathy, compassion and a caring spirit.  No matter what, she always sought to help others.  Throughout her entire life she was the glue for her entire extended family, and her love for her family never wavered.  Despite the immediate feeling of overwhelming grief that comes with losing her far too soon, the love that Jo Ann shared and showed to so many remains constant, and her light reflects brightly through all the lives she touched over her 77 years.  She was especially proud of and loved her granddaughters Hannah & Abby.   

Jo Ann Farmer is survived by her husband Gary, son Gary Jr., daughter Linda, daughter-in-law Stacey, granddaughters Hannah and Abby, son-in-law Ed Hempe, brother John and sister-in-law Sue, and numerous cousins, nieces & nephews in the Farmer, Hines, Shields, Otto, Zeman, Alderson and other families.  She will always be with us, by our sides providing strength and, most of all, unconditional love.

A Memorial Service for family and close friends will be held on September 23 at Horizon Funeral & Cremation Services, 4650 N. Federal Highway, Lighthouse Point, FL 33064 - viewing starts at 5:00 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 6:30 p.m. The following day, Sep. 24, a mass in her honor will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. at St. Paul the Apostle, Catholic Church in Lighthouse Point, and the public is welcome. Masking is requested by the family.

She is being cremated after that and will later be inurned at Our Lady Queen of Heaven on a date to be determined.  Donations in her honor may be made to Hospice by the Sea or Hospice of Palm Beach County, d/b/a Trustbridge. 

The service will be streamed live on Zoom at:https://zoom.us/join  Topic: Jo Ann Farmer Memorial Service Meeting ID: 869 3911 4626

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And at: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/1460204130/posts/10221241916905046/ (link will be posted on her & others’ Facebook pages).

Online condolences may be made at: www.HorizonFuneralCremation.com