Tribute To Jo

Jo As We Remember Her

Jo In One of Her Favorite Places,
Surrounded by Her Nieces and Nephews

High School Senior

At High School Prom With Revis Boyd

At Prom with Wanda

Nov 12, 1944 - Oct 18, 2005

Ashes To Ashes Pictures

I found the item below on Jo's computer. The file is dated Jan 31, 2000 and it speaks volumes about her passions and character.

WORDS

I've been trying to find the word that describes a person who likes words. I don't mean any of the experts such as neologists, lexicographers or etymologists, although the fascination involves all aspects of words - maybe it should be a "wordophile." This business of words is like so many other areas of interest - the more you learn, the more you become aware that you know almost nothing.

Recently I read the phrase "…the horse staled…" I had never seen the word "staled." Did the horse lose freshness? Perhaps an "l" was omitted and the horse had gone into a stall or maybe the horse had run out of fuel and stopped. Then I wondered - what is the common root for the uses of the word stall. A horse stops in a stall and an engine out of gas stalls. These little mysteries and side trips make reading a rather slow process but are often more entertaining than the source material.

Children sometime coin a word or phrase that so precisely fits their need that you marvel at this wonderful human ability. I have a great nephew who, when he was just beginning to talk, referred to his mother's sister as "more mama." I think Webster should edit the next dictionary to replace the word "aunt" with "more mama."

I'm sure there is a word that means word lover. Right now I don’t know what it is, but it will be fun looking for it.

The following tribute by Mr. Ronnie Webb appeared in the Thursday, October 27, 2005 edition of The Tattnall Journal under the heading "A Friend Has Passed."

This column seldom uses space to mourn the passing of individuals. However, at times, there are those individuals that were so much a part of the life and times of the author, that their passing must be remembered.

JoAnn Thomas died last Thursday. She had been ailing for some time, but she seemed to be improving, and her premature death was a shock to family and friends.

Joann was a tremendously interesting individual. She was intelligent and very precise in her work and her communications with others. Her family will remember that she had a passion for correct English, and her Reidsville High School classmates will remember that she had a sense of humor seldom surpassed.

JoAnn was a central figure in the Reidsville High School Class of 1962. That keen sense of humor was one of the many things that endeared her to classmates, and it is one of the things that bound the Class of 62 into such a close knit group. JoAnn, Jo, or Lula Bell, as she is affectionately remembered, loved a good joke on someone else or herself. She often laughed loudest when the joke was on her.

Over the years, I have heard the joke about the deer hunters and the rattlesnake many time in places like Arizona, Kansas, Florida, Mississippi, Texas, Montana and other places where hunters gather. But I heard it first from Lula Bell at Reidsville High School.

It goes like this. Two deer hunters went hunting, and one had to get down out of his stand and step behind some bushes to answer the call of nature. When he had dropped his flannel underwear and squatted, a rattlesnake struck him squarely on the hindmost quarter panel. The hunter howled in pain and his friend rushed to a nearby farmer’s house and called the local doctor. Upon finding out neither man had a snakebite kit, the doctor advised the friend to make a small “x” on each fang mark with a knife and suck out the poison.

The friend returned and the snake bitten hunter asked what the doctor advised. “The doctor said you gonna die.” was the reply.

I can still see Lula Bell laughing so hard that her face turned red and she looked as if her freckles would just fall off.

About four years ago several classmates got together to enjoy a seafood meal and catch up on what everyone was doing. Some of the male class members started telling some pretty fair tales about hunting and fishing, and Jo told a story about a record Alaskan Brown Bear killed recently. Her story pretty well put all others in the shade and John Conley later allowed he would get an official “Bear Crossing” sign if Sam Hart and I would put it up on the road near her house. We agreed, but John never got the sign. I wish he had, she would have known exactly who placed the sign and why, and it would have been something else for her to laugh about every day.

A classmate living in Atlanta wrote a letter to the editor of The Tattnall Journal. His eloquent tribute demonstrates why everyone loved Jo.

Her Name Was JoAnn

Henry David Thoreau wrote, “On the death of a friend, we should consider that the fates through confidence have devolved on us the task of a double living, that we have henceforth to fulfill the promise of our friend’s life also, in our own, to the world.”

To the many friends of JoAnn Thomas, Thoreau’s charge is a tall order. For JoAnn brought laughter, pleasure and happiness to all the people she met. When you were with JoAnn, you always laughed and enjoyed her company. As a member of the Reidsville High School Class of 1962, I enjoyed her company throughout our school years. No one had a quicker wit. No one could cheer you up as easily and as effortlessly as JoAnn. No one brought a quicker smile to your face after many years of adult life. JoAnn was the one you wanted to have at all class reunions. She could keep you laughing the entire time, and her superb intellect captured the fondest memories and recalled them for all to share. It was very easy to love JoAnn as a friend.

I will miss JoAnn Thomas. Her death diminisheds my life as it will the lives of all who have known her. But, I find tremendous comfort in knowing that when I meet her in the afterlife, she will make me laugh.

Some Picture of Jo from the Last Several Years

Some of the Family Pictures from JoAnn's Visitation and Funeral