Joanne Joy Hart, 79, died peacefully July 25, 2015, in Anchorage at her home
surrounded by her family.
A memorial service is at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14, 2015, at the
Alaska Zoo Gateway Hall, 4731 O’Malley Road, in Anchorage. There will
be a second memorial service with family and friends in Washington state
later this fall.
“She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, sister,
grandmother, great-grandmother and friend who openly shared her gracious nature, gentle spirit, and keen wisdom with those she loved as well as the
complete strangers her husband would bring home,” her family said.
Joanne was born Jan. 23, 1936, in Green Bay, Wis., where she lived until her family moved to
Washington in 1944. In the spring of 1954, she met the love of her life,
Charles Hart. She graduated from Central Kitsap High School shortly thereafter and they were married that November. “There is comfort in knowing
they are united again,” her family said.
Joanne and Chuck made the decision to move to Anchorage, Alaska, with their three
children in November of 1963. After surviving the 1964 earthquake they chose to
stay and together built their home in Spenard. She was a dedicated and
loving mother, heavily involved in her children’s school programs and
supportive of all their activities. Joanne worked for Spenard Builders
Supply for many years at both the Lois Drive location in Anchorage and the store in Homer. She loved her work and greatly admired the people
she worked with until her retirement.
Joanne and Chuck began building their cabin on MacDonald Spit in 1968 and spent every possible moment enjoying this place too amazing to put into words. In 1979, they built their dream home in Homer, where they shared many happy years with friends and family until Chuck passed away in 2010. Joanne chose to return to Anchorage to be closer to her family in 2011.Joanne was preceded in death by her husband, Chuck; son, Charles; mother, Ruby; father, Walter; and two brothers, Donne and Lee.
She is survived by her sister, Judy; children, Jeff and Susan; grandchildren, Patricia (Tyson), Sara (David), Michael, Cristy (Kyle), Rebecca, Charles, Bernadette, Elliot and Cory; great grandchildren, Kyla, Hatcher, Noah, twins Madeline and
Eleanor,
Michael, and a new bundle of joy due in January 2016, and many extended family
members.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in her
name, Joanne J. Hart, to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org or by
mail to 3851 Piper Street, Suite U-240, Anchorage, AK 99508.
