JoAnne Balthazor

Madison - JoAnne Marie Balthazor, age 81, of Madison, Wisconsin passed away on Monday, May 13, 2024 at Oakwood Village West- Hospice, after a brief illness.

JoAnne attended St. Raphael’s, followed by Madison Central High School; graduating from the Class of 1960.

JoAnne married Frank J Balthazor on August 31, 1963 at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, East side and traveled to the Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. On August 31, 2023 they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.

In the early 70’s, JoAnne started her career as a mail clerk at the United States Postal Service and hand sorted individual pieces of mail by zip codes. Later she was a letter machine sorter, when newer automative technologies became available. After nearly 30 years of dedicated work, she retired from the USPS.

JoAnne enjoyed camping and traveling throughout the US. Some of her favorite camping spots were: Upper Peninsula—Tahquamenon Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, St. Ignace State Park. Wisconsin— Mirror Lake, Wildcat Mountain, Council Grounds, Governor Dodge and Wyalusing. She also enjoyed traveling and seeing the picturesque beauty of our Great National Parks —Smoky Mtns, Glacier National Park, Badlands, Black Hills, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Rocky Mtns and the Grand Canyon.

JoAnne’s travels also included vacationing outside the USA. Her passport is filled with stamps from many countries including: Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, Aruba, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Soviet Union, Poland, England, Ireland, Finland. In 2011, Joanne and her sister, enjoyed a 8 day river cruise down the Dunabe River, which began in Nuremberg through Austria and finished in Budapest, Hungary. She enjoyed it so much, a few years later, she went on a second river cruise with her husband down the Rhine River, beginning in the Netherlands, then to Germany, next France and finishing in Switzerland.

During her retirement years she traveled less and preferred to spend much of her time at her cottage on Lake Wisconsin where she enjoyed the slow pace and peacefulness that lake life offered. She enjoyed pontooning down the Wisconsin River, putting her feet in the sand at the sandbars, bon fires and working in her flower garden. But, what she enjoyed most were the breathtaking sunsets, with no sunset alike, and also sharing the cottage with family and friends.

JoAnne was loved and will be missed dearly. She will always be remembered for her beauty, strength & courage, patience, dedication to her family, love of puppies, pork chop spaghetti, vegetable & flower gardens, back seat driving, texts and email’s that sometimes took a detective to decipher, sass & witty sense of humor, often without boundaries, that brought a simultaneous grin and a shake of one’s head.

JoAnne was preceded in death by her mother, Marcella M. (1966); father, Joseph E. (1972); her twin sister, Jeanne (2008). Her huskies-Brezzy, Gorby, Jay-R.

JoAnne is survived by her husband, Frank; sons, Francis (Linda), Chris (Gina), Rick (Sue); daughter, Mary (Andy) Hayden; grandmother to Ryan & Logan, Megan (Matt) Madden, Steven, Elizabeth & Nick; Annie, Bobby Swenson, Daniel (Jocelyn) Swenson, David (Shaniece) Swenson, Tom Swenson, Steven Swenson; great- grandmother to Luca, Ben, Ella, Penelope, Henrik, Tommy; sister, Karen (Frank); AFS “son” Carlos from the Dominican Republic.

JoAnne also had a special “auntie” relationship to her sister’s children—Marcy, Debbie, Sherry, and Mike. She also looked forward to seeing and spending time with the Streich & Reis families, and looked forward to the annual summer reunions!

A Celebration of Life & Service (Father Joe) will be held at Ryan Funeral Homes, 2418 N. Sherman Avenue Madison, WI 53704 on Wednesday May 29, 2024. A gathering with family and friends will begin at 10 am, and the service will begin at 12pm.

“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in [our] heart [s].”Mahatma Gandhi

To view and sign this guestbook, please visit: www.ryanfuneralservice.com.

Ryan Funeral Home & Cremation Services

2418 N Sherman Ave

608-249-8257