Joanne Sonia Granville

Known as JoJo to many of her friends and lovingly as Boggie to all her grandchildren and great grandchildren, Joanne will be remembered for her warmth, her good cheer and her renown as “the nicest mom” among the friends of her three daughters as they grew up. Such was her gift of friendship that many of those same teens visited Joanne as adults.

Born on Feb. 23, 1932, in Fargo, N.D., Joanne was the oldest of Josephine and Soren Peter Nelson’s four children. In 1935, after their diner failed in the Great Depression, the Nelsons moved to Southern California and established a dairy farm in North Hollywood, on which Joanne and her brothers grew up.

A fateful encounter occurred years later in a stairwell at Walter Reed Junior High School, when Joanne caught a glimpse of Gary, two years her senior, and fell in love at first sight. The couple wed on Aug. 16, 1947, and remained married until Gary’s death in 2002.

In addition to being a partner to Gary in his campaigns and in his public role, Joanne worked many years as an oral surgery assistant. She also participated in several service organizations, most notably the Ladies Auxiliary of the Salvation Army and Inner Wheel, the women’s arm of the Rotary Club.

But Joanne’s true life’s work was the care and nurture of her family, joyfully carried out without regard to her own convenience or comfort whether it be flying overnight across the country to help a daughter move, or attending literally hundreds of grandkids’ ball games.

A life-long Lutheran, one of Joanne’s prized possessions was a Bible given to her in 1993. In it, Gary’s inscription gave voice to a sentiment common to his wife’s family and friends: “My dear Joanne, Your light has always shone through.”

Joanne is survived by her daughters and sons-in-law, Greta and Michael Hambsch of Genoa, NV, Kari and Peter Boyer of Tallahassee, FL, and Betsy and John Mitchell of Orange; by eight grandchildren; by fourteen great grandchildren; and by a brother, Stephen Nelson of Blaine, WA.

A funeral service will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, at Waverly Chapel at Fairhaven Memorial Park, 1702 Fairhaven Ave., Santa Ana. Vicar Micah Raebel of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Orange will officiate.