Joanne Irene Noda Montgomery

JOANNE IRENE NODA MONTGOMERY JUL 30, 1943 - SEP 20, 2010 Joanne Irene Noda Montgomery succumbed to cancer on Monday Sept. 20, 2010 while living at a residential board and care home in Los Angeles, California known as My Mother's Place.'' She was surrounded by her loving family. Her long battle against the disease since it was first diagnosed in 2007 made the difference in allowing her to know all of her grandchildren, three of the four of which were all born during the span of this most personal struggle. She endured radiation, chemotherapy and major surgery to achieve this inspiring accomplishment. Joanne was born to William and Esther Noda on July 30, 1943 at the hospital for the Tule Lake Relocation Camp while experiencing the wrongful internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. She was one of thousands of natively born American citizens of Japanese ancestory who suffered this injustice and finally received a formal apology from the Government of the United States along with the passing of the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. After the family's release after the war in 1945 she was raised in Turlock where her parents owned and operated a small grocery store. Joanne attended the local elementary schools and was a 1961 graduate of Turlock High School. She also attended Modesto Junior College. One of her greatest achievements was returning to and completing her education with a Bachelors Degree in Real Estate from California State University Sacramento which allowed her to become a licensed real estate broker. For more than a decade she attended school at night on top of her full time career as a federal civil servant. Joanne sang and played the piano as well as danced along with her sister Carol in the June Jane Ripley dance school during grammar and high school. She was a lover of art, theatre and music, and very much enjoyed a tradition of annual vacations with her family to Maui. She was married to now retired Air Force Officer Major George M. Montgomery Jr. from 1964-1976. Together they lived in Alaska, California, Texas, Ohio and New Hampshire. Later in life she as well endeared a long partnership with her great friend and final significant other George Hamano who passed away in May of 2009. Joanne spent over 30 years working for the federal government and retired in 2002. During her career she achieved countless commendations and recognition from her co-workers and superiors, while working for a wide range of federal agencies. She completed her time with the US government as an underwriter for The Federal Bureau of Housing and Urban Development. During her retirement years she passionately pursued a second career in market research for her family's small television graphic design business. She is survived by her mother, Esther Noda-Toyoda, two married sons, George M. Montgomery III and his wife Linh, and Joe Daniels and his wife Aubrey, as well as her two sisters Carol and Debbie Noda, step-brother Jon R. Toyoda and step-sister Candice Marks. She has four grandchildren, George and Lauren Montgomery, Alexander and Nicholas Daniels, nephew William Patten. Her father Bill Noda and grandmother Mura Ishizuka Sekine predeceased her in 1983 in 1984 respectively. The memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at the Turlock Funeral Home at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010. The address is 425 N. Soderquist Rd., Turlock, CA. www.modbee.com/obituaries