JoAnne Marie Conway, age 82, of Pleasant Lake, MI, passed away on Thursday, October 14, 2021 surrounded by her four daughters. She was born July 21, 1939 in Detroit, MI, the daughter of Michael and Mildred (Peterson) Helfrich.
JoAnne had lived in the Pleasant Lake area for the past 30 years, moving there after living in Stockbridge for 25 years. She married John Conway on August 11, 1956 in Manchester, Michigan. She proudly worked for Stockbridge Community Schools as a custodian from 1976 until she retired in 1998, where she made many life-long friends. She believed she positively impacted the experience of students and staff by meticulously maintaining the buildings in her care.
JoAnne had a compassionate heart and acted as a Hospice volunteer for several years. She provided crucial respite care for many families from Stockbridge and the surrounding areas by helping care for terminally ill loved ones within their homes. She also worked part time for many years performing the same service for other families that needed assistance with ill or incapacitated loved ones.
She loved traveling with her children and grandchildren, and also with her dear friend, Marilyn Moore (deceased). While her husband, John, rarely liked to travel, they often went to Canada together to visit the Albin families, and they also satisfied a big item on their travel bucket list by taking a cruise to Alaska a few years ago. JoAnne was an avid quilter, and loved gifting her beautiful creations to family members, mainly to her children and other extended family, but also to anyone she knew that was expecting the birth of a child.
JoAnne and her husband always made spending time with their family a priority by attending or hosting many large family gatherings. She thoroughly enjoyed frequent visits from her children, grandchildren, and friends whenever they happened to stop by. Everyone was welcome in her home, anytime. She also loved meeting new people, and in her later years, she and John happily attended many holiday dinners with her children’s various families-in-law.
She is survived by four children: Kathleen (Tom) Pizana of South Bend, IN, Shelly (Mark) Wiley of Quincy, MI, Becky Boyce of Jackson, MI, and Shawn Conway of Jackson, MI; four siblings, four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. JoAnne was preceded in death by her husband, John Conway, three siblings, and two grandchildren.
Her daughters are grateful to Father Satheesh from Our Lady of Fatima in Michigan Center for attending to JoAnne’s religious needs in her last moments.
For their outstanding compassionate care at the end of JoAnne’s life, the family would appreciate anyone wishing to make a donation in her memory in lieu of flowers to Careline Hospice of Jackson, 103 S. Jackson St., Jackson, Michigan 49201.
The family wishes to extend our very grateful thanks to Hospice Case Manager, Nurse Betsy, for caring for JoAnne throughout the last year, and for not leaving her without hands-on Hospice care on her last day.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2021, 12:00 p.m., at Caskey-Mitchell Funeral Home, Stockbridge, MI. The family will receive friends one hour before the service from 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
