Joanna Joyce Van Kampen

January 8, 1925 - October 31, 2025

Joanna Joyce Van Kampen age 100, passed away in her home on October 31, 2025 in La Mesa , California.

She was born January 8, 1925, in Anoka, Minnesota daughter of Ethel and Floyd Riles. Joanna’s early years were spent on her cousin’s farm. Her parents ran the Cottage Grove Motel on the old highway that passed through Anoka to the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

Joanna graduated from Anoka High School and went on to work at Twin Cities Arsenal. At that time she met John Timothy Van Kampen and they moved to La Mesa, California. They resided in La Mesa, in their first home, until John passed away in 1994. Joanna lived in the house for nearly 70 years.

Joanna was in her mid thirties when she decided to fulfill her teaching dream. She attended Cal Western University in Point Loma where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and later gained a Master’s Degree in English. In the Chula Vista School District her passion for teaching led her 3rd and 4th graders with great enthusiasm for 23 years. Her students were fond of “Mrs. Van” as were their parents who insisted on continuing all their children’s education requesting “Mrs.Van”. Generations of students were individually taught, tutored and nurtured. Joanna was a truly gifted and unforgettable teacher.

After retiring Joanna was still tutoring in math and English, opening an antique store in La Mesa, crating and hunting for her collections. She barely missed a state traveling by car throughout the United States and she never missed a chance to revisit her “Home” in Minnesota. One single trip to England and Scotland in 1986 was a dream of her lifetime.

An expression of her wisdom, humor, love for lost causes, and her many West Highland Terriers will live on in everyone who knew her and were fortunate enough to know her unique and unforgettable soul.

Joanna’s faith in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ sustained her throughout her whole life.

Joanna is survived by her daughter, Joanna Bonomi and son-in-law, Mark A. Bonomi and and her many devoted and caregivers of her later years.