Joann Howe, 58, formerly of North Main Street, Dolgeville, entered into eternal rest on March 7, 2010, at Little Falls Hospital.
She was born on January 20, 1952, in Little Falls.
Joann received her GED from the Dolgeville Central School District. She was the first person to have had schooling through the Dolgeville intercom system. Joann had both polio and muscular dystrophy. No longer did she have to battle getting on and off the school bus. No longer did she have to battle an agonizingly long trip down the hall to a washroom when she felt weak. A flick of a knob set on her desk tuned her in to her teacher, Evelyn Loomis, and her twenty-four sixth grade classmates. And, with a touch of a button on top of the set, Joann asked and replied to questions like any pupil in her class.
Joann was very talented in arts and crafts, with painting being her specialty. She took third place at the county fair for one of her paintings. That painting eventually was displayed at the State Office Building in Albany.
Survivors include her mother, Pauline LaGrange; her sisters, Donna Vedder and her husband, Gene, of Stratford, Mary Ann Barnes and her husband, Tom, of Dolgeville, Emma Vokins, of Salisbury, and Ruth Mamrosh and her husband, James, of Dolgeville; her brothers, Harold LaGrange and his wife, Michele, of Dolgeville, and Edward LaGrange, of Little Falls; and several loving aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her adopted parents, George and Harriet (Comstock) Howe, and her brothers, Jackie, James and Burr LaGrange.
The family will receive relatives and friends from 10:30 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, at the United Methodist Church, 21 N. Helmer Ave., Dolgeville, with a religious service following at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Roger Waldron officiating.
Interment will take place in the spring at Salisbury Rural Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Joann’s name to S&S Ambulance Service or to the United Methodist Church. Envelopes may be obtained at the church at her religious service.
The family is being cared for by the Roberts & Enea Family Funeral Home, 3 Faville Ave., Dolgeville, NY 13329.
To offer an online message of sympathy please go to www.robertsandenea.com.
