Joanne Ellen Walker

Our Mom Joanne was born and grew up in Jackson Michigan. Aside from walking to school in the snow uphill both ways she had nothing but fond memories of her hometown. Her favorite pastime was walking back to the apple trees behind her house with her sister Mary and cousins Mike and Dave and sprinkling salt on the apples as they ate them. We could never understand the appeal of this but it did account for her lifetime love affair with salt. After Graduating from St. Mary’s High School, where she made quite a splash on the public speaking team, she attended Barat College in Lake Forest Illinois where her major seemed to be attending Notre Dame football games on the weekends with her friends. After that rigorous pursuit she moved to California where her Uncle Art and Aunt Esther lived. From pictures we can tell she was quite the young single gal cruising around town in her TR3 Convertible with her poodle by her side. Soon after that she fell for a man in a police uniform. We hear he used to come by her apartment and give her a ride on the back of his police motorcycle blatantly breaking city policy. She always liked the bad boys. They married and had two boys. Christmas time was her favorite time of year as she loved the traditions. One tradition her boys experienced every year was getting a gift from her in the same specialty gift box that we received on our first Christmas. From the 1970's to just last year these boxes were full every year. There were decades of tape on them! It was a wonder the still even closed properly! Mom made Christmas gifting easy for us because all she ever wanted was a 2 lb. box of See’s candy. We knew to stay away from those for the rest of the year! Joanne as the homemaker, well let’s just say she tried her best. Home cooking had a different definition for Mom. If it came in a bag or a box and she cooked it at home that is still home cooking! But she did have her well consumed staples of tuna casserole, meat loaf, beef stroganoff and her famous deviled eggs and kidney bean salad. Joanne spent most of her life as a working woman. She was an A/P Clerk for a large corporation. However if you looked at the pictures it would seem her major function there was winning holiday costume contests. Her get ups had become legend! Whether it was the Easter hat contest that was won with a 3 foot high Easter basket on her head or the reoccurring role of the hobo homeless lady on Halloween complete with her own squeaky wheeled push cart filled with thunderbird wine she was always a highly anticipated contestant. About 15 years ago she retired. The first part of that time was spent caring for her husband until his death in 2000. Then after that her major role was that of spoiling her grandchildren. That included being the major supplier of all the taboo stuff they could not get at home. White Wonder Bread, Pies with cool whip, Ice Cream just a smorgasbord of processed food!! Megan and Samantha both loved coming to Grandmas house as they helped her water her flowers, wash the rubber ducks while Grandma did the dishes and of course the food! Grandma also loved attending the performances, recitals and school functions of her two grandchildren. She believed her marvelous singing voice and luminous stage presence skipped her boys and got directly inherited by her grandchildren. We would have to agree! Mom attended church regularly. She went to a Latin Mass once a month but really liked attending the youth mass at her local church. Besides the band belting out spiritual songs with a rock beat, she would love to relay the stories of the highly inappropriate things the teenagers were wearing in church and how the Nuns at St. Mary's would have a field day with their rulers there! But what got Mom excited the most was when she heard a helicopter in the sky, let me explain. Having a husband and son as police officers gave mom the impression she was the local police command post for our neighborhood. When neighbors would come around to get the scoop on the helicopter hovering in the sky she would always know the reason. One time she was walking out her front door to tell her neighbors of a pursuit in the area when the pursuit suspect ran by in back of her across her lawn with three officers and a K9 following. No matter how many times her Sheriffs Deputy son told her to stay in the house and lock the door she still wanted to be in the thick of the action. If there was a helicopter in the sky you could count on Mom in the front yard with her police scanner and a Pepsi in hand. What more can we say about our Mom. She was an original for sure and there was never a dull moment when she was around. We will miss her not only for her antics but also for the great listener and understanding person she was. We love you Mom, Your Boys