JoAnn Kay Derby

JoAnn was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to Richard Heeringa and Elizabeth Wilson Heeringa on March 12, 1938. She graduated from Union High School in 1956, and the University of Michigan in 1960, where she played the Bass Clarinet in the U of M Concert Band. Her love of the university resulted in three generations of Fervent Michigan Football Fans.

She was a gourmet cook and involved in local theater productions. She taught music and drama in The New Jersey Haslett Public Schools until her retirement in 1995. JoAnn moved to the Tampa area for the next 19 years and was heavily involved in her community groups, Mahjong and was a founding member and the Queen Mum of the Red Hat Society. In 2014 JoAnn returned to Grand Rapids where she enjoyed the cultural opportunities of music and theater and was at one time Co-President of the Friends of the Grand Rapids Symphony. She never missed her weekly Bridge game, and was fortunate to have traveled the globe with her husbands and friends. Regardless of where she lived, she had many dear friends who will miss her sense of humor.

JoAnn is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Michael and Laure Sabik of Murrells Inlet, SC; step-son, Brian Derby of Pensacola, FL; granddaughters, Emma Sabik of Myrtle Beach, and Maggie Sabik of Longmont, CO, and one great-grandson Oliver; nephews, David and Kathleen Ray, and Thomas Ray and Janet Shick, all of Grand Rapids and their families; her partner and companion Bob Kammeraad and his family, and several Wilson, Sabik and Derby relatives around the country.

JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Betty Ray Nichols, a nephew Richard Ray and her husbands, Stan Sabik, and Thomas Derby.

A Celebration of Life in honor of JoAnn will be Friday, January 3, 2025, at 11:00 am in the Downtown Courtyard Marriott Grand Room, 11 Monroe Ave NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503. Parking is available for guests in the hotel ramps or the JW Marriott Ramp.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.