Joanne D. Dawson

JOANNE D. DAWSON (nee Flynn), aged 81 years, beloved wife for 61 years to Robert J., loving mother of Laura Luxenberg, Amy Dawson and James Dawson (wife Laura Setzfand), loving grandmother of Emma and Harper Dawson-Glass.

Joanne graduated from Hinsdale High School in Hinsdale, Illinois in 1956, she attended Rosary College in Chicago where she was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority, and later attended nursing school at Huron Road Hospital. For 20 years she was a medical assistant for Cleveland Physicians in South Euclid, Ohio. She was a Deacon at the Forest Hills Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights for many years.  Joanne loved to travel and spend time with her family, particularly at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. She loved to read and would often complete two, to three, even four books per week.  She loved the staff at the Noble Branch of the Heights Libraries and always complimented their kindness and courtesy.  She volunteered at the Gift Shop at the Heights Libraries Lee Road Branch during the last years of her life and made strong and happy friendships with her co-volunteers. During her life Joanne also volunteered at the Cleveland Play House and at the Cain Park Theater.  Joanne  was a member of a local knitting group, but in recent years may have enjoyed the company more than the crafting. One of Joanne’s cherished family traditions–passed down from her Swedish Grandmother, Nonny, to her parents, Eleanor and Cornelius, and then onto her children–was breaking a plate in the street on New Year’s Eve. This act symbolised the shattering of the troubles of the old year while allowing the good luck of the New Year to enter the house. In a journal entry written in 2020 Joanne wrote, “This moment is sweet and good…and if some sadness hangs around I think it’s minor and just brush strokes wide and part of living a full, loved life. I’ve learned that life is a painting with every color there is in the world, with no prescribed pattern.”

Contributions in memory of Joanne suggested to The Greater Cleveland Food Bank (15500 S. Waterloo Rd, Cleveland, OH 44110) or to the “Fund for the Future of the Heights Libraries”  Cleveland Heights-University Heights (2345 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118). Memorial services and reception in memory of Joanne will be announced and held when it is safer to gather. Arrangements entrusted to THE DeJOHN-FLYNN-MYLOTT FUNERAL HOME OF SOUTH EUCLID.

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