Joanne was a lifelong resident of the Portland area. She attended Duniway, St. Stephen’s, and St. Mary’s Academy in Portland. In grade school, she studied harp and piano, and won a scholastic and music scholarship to St. Mary’s High School. In high school, she excelled at both instruments and was featured as a soloist and the piano accompanist for the Orchestra. Joanne was a Graduate of Oregon State College (now Oregon State University) in 1953, majoring in Agricultural Economics, and she continued to excel at piano and harp. A highlight was her playing the Grieg concerto for Piano and Orchestra. Joanne would carry her love of piano and harp into her later life - performing at various events, being an active member of the Opera Guild, volunteer and season ticket holder to the Oregon Symphony, and making yearly visits to the Sunriver Music Festival.
While in College, Joanne met her future husband, William (Bill) Harsey, a Forestry student whom she married at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma in 1954. Their first son, Bill Jr. was born in Oklahoma, and upon return to Oregon Joanne and Bill had their children Dean, Denise, Brian, David, and Jan. While raising her family, Joanne also managed the bookkeeping for the family logging company, Harsey Logging.
Joanne is survived by her husband and children, as well as her grandchildren Ian, Sarah and Rachel Harsey.
Funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of the lake Catholic Church in Lake Oswego on Thursday, November 29th at 11:00 a.m. followed by a church reception and then a 3:00 p.m. concluding committal service at Skyline Memorial Gardens in Portland.
