Joanne Shonka Kriz was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Bernard and Sophie (Wrabek) Shonka where the family attended The Church of St. Wenceslaus. The Shonka family moved to Kansas City in 1954 after WWII where her father had been a bombardier in the Army Air Corps. They were members of St. Anne’s Catholic Church where she attended grade school before going on to Bishop Miege Catholic High School and graduated in May of 1962. Joanne attended her 35th high school reunion in September of 1997. She had a brief college career before starting her family and attended Kansas State University majoring in Home Economics.
After living and traveling around Asia for a few years, Joanne moved to Las Vegas and started her career at the Clark County District Court in 1987 where she worked until retirement in 2008. She also worked at home helping her husband, Robert “Bob” Kriz, run his leak detection business and A Better Pool.
She met Robert G. Kriz in 1989 and after much pursuing Joanne finally agreed to marry him March 30, 1997. She was an active member in the Navy Relief Society. Joanne was also very accomplished at fishing and loved to travel. Bob and Joanne built their loving family home in Summerlin in 2000 where they planted her rose garden and his vegetable patch. He preceded her in death February 4, 2019. Joanne was also preceded in death by her parents Ben & Sophie Shonka, her daughter Katherine Hayes and grandson Sebastian Erickson. Joanne was the matriarch of her family that includes daughter Christine (Brian) Ressler of Falcon, CO; son-in-law Dale Hayes, grandchildren Rachel Hayes and Lillian (Anthony) Salvador of Las Vegas; Daniel (Erin) Hayes of Maple Valley, WA; Austin (Cassie) Ressler of Dacono, CO, Ashley Ressler of Englewood, CO; Cody Erickson and Jenna Kriz of Sonora, CA; sister Carolyn (Terrance) Jakobe of Overland Park, KS; nephew Gilbert (Miyoko) Oaks of Green Valley, CA and four great grand children that affectionally called her GG.
Joanne was a descendent of Czech immigrants that farmed, gardened, fished, cooked and ate four meals a day after thanking the Lord for all the earth’s goodness.
Joanne’s smile, her daily Pickles, her Czech appetite and gentle romantic demeanor will be in our hearts forever. We will miss her beyond words and tears and will see her in every rose along the way.
A celebration of Joanne and Bob will be planned at a future date when family and friends can all gather together
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