In memory of JoAnn Scott

By Millie Diaz
Staff Writer
    Jo Ann Scott enjoyed to walk, teach, quilt and wasn’t intimidated by technology like some people her age, in fact, one could say the 77-year old enjoyed keeping up with how to operate smartphones and tablets and get on Facebook and Twitter.
    “Walking was her favorite hobby,” daughter Betsy Pendergast said. “If the weather was good, she walked at the Edna track every day with her Fitbit.”
    Scott passed on Christmas Eve in 2016, only days before her 56th wedding anniversary, and is one of the three honorees whose memory will be celebrated at this year Jackson County Relay for Life.
    She touched the most lives in the classroom as an EHS home economics teacher, and later, teaching pre-kindergarten in the mid-1980s; it’s no surprise she was comfortable in the classroom. Jo Ann was valedictorian of her 1957 class in Michigan. She married her high school sweetheart, Gordon, only a few years later.
    Scott is survived by Gordon, and their daughter and son, Betsy and John. Betsy and her husband Jim have two older daughters, Megan and Macey, whom Scott visited and attended their school functions as often as she could. Scott also had a younger brother Mike, who still lives in Michigan. Her extended family, Jose and Maria Santiago, and their daughter and son, Edith and Daniel have been a part of her from the beginning, in addition to Edith’s husband Damon and their son Stephen.
    Edith said Scott showed her another world. “She spent hours with me working with flash cards to the places we visited that helped me flourish. She always held my hand when I needed support and pushed me forward when I was lost,” Edith said. “When anyone wanted to hear the truth, JoAnn was there to let you know the value of honesty. She was dependable, steadfast, and always there for you. We always knew we could find her walking on the track with her earmuffs. I miss her warm strong hugs that enveloped you with love and let you know how special you were to her.”
    “My mother was an energetic, positive thinker; she was a go-getter,” Betsy said. “She was a strong woman in her mind and her heart.”