JoAnn Hobbs

JoAnn Hobbs was called home to be with the Lord on December 27, 2013 in Jacksonville, Florida. JoAnn loved the Lord with all her heart, and despite her many struggles, her faith was unwavering. She was a member of Westside Baptist Church in Jacksonville. JoAnn was born in Jacksonville, Florida on July 17, 1957. She grew up with her sister, Susan and her brother Rick, a special needs child with Downs Syndrome. JoAnn always had a special bond with her brother, Rick. She was always kind, loving and patient. Their close and loving relationship transcended words. JoAnn also enjoyed spending time with her big sister, Marlene, whose children were close enough in age to JoAnn and Susan to provide many wonderful and fun filled days. Growing up, JoAnn loved to spend summers on the Boyer farm in Sparta, Georgia, playing with her sister and her cousin, Margaret. Susan recalled one summer on the farm, when they watched a cow give birth and they got to bottle feed the new born calf. JoAnn always loved animals. They also liked to spend time at a pond at the back of the pasture, and getting to the pond was always a challenge. They had to make it past a resident, grumpy bull without attracting his attention. JoAnn also loved music and loved to sing along. Her sister, Susan, who was only one year younger, recalls many happy times riding with JoAnn driving, while singing songs at the top of their lungs. JoAnn was not known for her culinary skills. One time, her husband shot a squirrel and asked her to cook it. He said just fry it like you would a chicken. Having never cooked a squirrel before, JoAnn breaded and pan-fried the unfortunate squirrel, laid out in the pan, all in one piece. It must have been both a startling sight and an amazing dinner that JoAnn refused to taste. JoAnn was a Breast Cancer Survivor. At age 32, JoAnn was diagnosed, for the first time, with breast cancer. She endured a rigorous and debilitating treatment regimen and underwent many painful surgeries, but she survived. In her best and most productive years, JoAnn was the owner of a steel fabricating business in Jacksonville. One of her proudest accomplishments was providing much of the fabricated steel that went into building the new, “Gator Bowl” Football Stadium, home of the Jacksonville Jaguars. Her proudest accomplishments, however, were her two children, Jessica and Allen. There can be absolutely no doubt that she loved her children more than anything else in the world. In 1997, JoAnn was critically injured when she fell from a horse. She sustained multiple fractures and internal injuries. Once again, however, JoAnn rallied and survived; however, the accident left her disabled by chronic pain. Throughout the years after her accident, JoAnn underwent many painful surgeries but never really found relief from the pain. JoAnn enjoyed a special and a loving relationship with Bob Miller. Bob was employed as a driver and met JoAnn while driving her to medical appointments. He could see her inner beauty and knew her as a very loving and a very special friend during the last two years of her life. JoAnn and Bob enjoyed walking her dog, Buddy, and watching a mated pair of Bald Eagles, whom she named Lucy and Ricky, build a nest in the pine trees behind her apartment. JoAnn attended church with Bob and spent many wonderful times with him and his two daughters, Grace and Eva. He provided some of the pictures of their shared happiness for her memorial service. Just before her death, JoAnn had a pain pump surgically implanted that was expected to finally control her pain without the adverse side effects of pain medications. JoAnn was anxious to have this done and was looking forward to a life without pain. She told those close to her that she was really looking forward to “getting her life back.”

JoAnn is survived by her two children Jessica Woodard and Allen Woodard. Two sisters Marlene Eberhardt (John) and Susan Tyler (Tim) and her beloved brother Rick. Three grandchildren Leighanne, Hannah and Preston. Niece Sonia Ricca (Les), Nephews Joseph Vona, Richard Barron (Kari). Her best friend and beloved Robert Miller. Countless cousins and friends.

We will celebrate and remember JoAnn’s life and all that she meant to us at Hardage Giddens, Town and Country January 2, 2014. Visitation with the family will be at 1:00 PM. A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00PM with Pastor Lynn Hyatt officiating.

Her entire family and all her friends are grateful that JoAnn has finally found peace in heaven, freed from her mortal existence and all her earthly pains. We can all find comfort in the knowledge that JoAnn is in heaven, enjoying her glorified, new body and reunited with all her loved ones who have passed before her.