Joanne Gould

Free spirited, loving and most of all independent are just a few words that describe Joanne in every aspect of her life. She had a heart that was open to the world. Joanne was a wonderful mother, wife and traveling partner.

The United States was in the depths of the depression. The date was November 29, 1933 and it was this turbulent time that Joanne was born in the small town of St. Louis, Michigan. Grant and Vesta (Harris) Hess were the most proud parents there could be. Growing up in St. Louis Joanne lead a normal childhood like many children of the mid-1930’s did. She graduated from St. Louis High School in 1951 and after high school she went to college in Elkhart, Indiana to be a Medical Lab Technician. Joanne and Dean started dating shortly after she had graduated from high school. Dean went off to serve his country in the Air Force after asking Joanne to marry him. In 1953 Dean came home on leave, he and Joanne went to the neighboring city of Angola, Indiana and were married that day at the Chapel in the Garden. After honeymooning in northern Michigan Joanne and Dean left for Victoria, Texas. After six months he was assigned to advanced fighter school at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas.

While stationed in Las Vegas their first child, Sharon, was born in January of 1954. After completion of training Dean was sent to Korea and Joanne went back to St. Louis to live with her parents for the next year and a half while Dean was over seas. When he returned they moved to Madison, WI where their second child, Susan, was born in June of 1956. In the same year Dean left the Air Force and entered Michigan State University. While Dean was at MSU they had their third child, David in March of 1958. After graduation the family moved to Kalamazoo where Dean started his career at KVP of Parchment. In March of 1960 Doug was born, their fourth child.

Joanne spent much of her life doing just what she wanted to do. She cared for the house and the children with a great deal of pride. She was very active when it came to her children. Joanne was involved with 4-H, a Brownie Leader, Girl Scout Leader, Cub Scout Leader and even a Room Mom. Joanne was a homemaker and devoted to her children and husband in every way possible.

Joanne and Dean decided to build a home on Austin Lake in 1968. She was very particular and had the house built exactly to her specifications. In 1970 Dean joined the Masonite Corp. and moved with his family to Dover, Ohio. Finally in 1975 Dean was transferred to Chicago and they were able to move back in to their Austin Lake home. In 1985 Dean retired.

Joanne and Dean traveled all over the United States in their motorhome. She was an adventurous person and always wanted to go to somewhere new. That was until they went on a specific trip to Florida. On this particular trip they were driving down a road surrounded by water on both sides and they saw a sign that said RV Park. Joanne and Dean stopped and stayed that night. After staying at the same place several times they bought a home in the park that faced the Gulf of Mexico. And not far off of the back yard was Lemon Bay. While out in their boat Joanne was often found watching for dolphins. She also spent countless hours searching the beaches for shells and sharks teeth. Joanne and Dean spent many evenings at the Tiki outside their home watching the beautiful sunset with their friends from the park. Her times in Florida and traveling were some of the most enjoyable times for Joanne. As the seasons changed Joanne and Dean moved between their home in Florida, in the winter, their home on Austin Lake in the summer while also traveling in their motorhome.

Joanne had many interests. Among them were machine knitting, computers and family, especially her five grandchildren. She was a very accomplished machine knitter. Joanne had a zest for knowledge that was like no other. She would spend hours on end at her knitting machine trying to figure out one specific pattern or stitch. When she got it that was it, she went on to the next thing. She was conquering as many different things as she possibly could with her knitting machine. Joanne was very computer literate. She could look up, do or play anything on the computer and the Internet. Joanne also spent much time playing computer games with her grandchildren.

In January of 2002 Joanne was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). She was unwavering in her courage and was always uplifting to those around her. After the ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) started to affect Joanne’s muscles she could no longer use her arms or voice. She then had a special computer built so that she could communicate with her family and friends as well as surf the web and send e-mail. The computer had no mouse and the cursor was controlled by her head movements. In addition, the computer had a synthesized voice to speak for her.

After a courageous battle Joanne died peacefully, April 5, 2003, at home surrounded by her family. Joanne is survived by her husband of 50 years Dean; her mother Vesta; sister Marilyn and her husband Jack Peterson; 4 children Sharon and her husband Tom London of New Bern, North Carolina, Susan (Gould) Kirk and Terry Garbacik of Kalamazoo, Michigan, David and his wife Donna Gould of New Bern, North Carolina, and Douglas Gould and his life partner Jim Reading of Vicksburg, Michigan; grandchildren Justin, Jarrod, Brenna, Joe, and Hayley Gould; and several nieces and nephews. Joanne was preceded in death by her father. Joanne was cremated and there will be no visitation or public memorial in accordance with her wishes. She will be buried at the Portage South Cemetery in a private ceremony. The family has requested that no flowers be sent and that memorials be given to Hospice of Greater Kalamazoo or the ALS Association of Western Michigan, Grand Rapids Chapter. Please share a memory of Joanne with her family.