JoAnne Cisneros West

JoAnne Cisneros West

JoAnne was born on July 29, 1937 in the Hispanic village of Antonito Colorado, and was raised in Denver where she attended South High School. She was runner-up to Marilyn Van Derbur (1958 Miss America) in the Junior Miss America Pageant, and homecoming queen in her senior year, graduating in 1955. JoAnne then attended Denver University where she met Phillip West in March of 1956. They wedded that September and were married for 68 years.

JoAnne worked as a secretary to put Phillip through his undergraduate, medical school, internship, and residency in psychiatry. When Phillip started his psychiatry practice in Albuquerque in 1974, JoAnne went to UNM and earned her BA, an M.A. in counseling, and a J.D. in law. JoAnne worked with a law firm until they adopted her nephew James at age 5. She became a counselor in the Albuquerque school system throughout James's school years. They moved to Farmington NM in 1990 where JoAnne was a high school counselor, then with K-4 children in Beclabito on the Navajo Nation. After she retired in 2012, they traveled the western U.S. for two years, then moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona where they resided ever since. She died on July 12, 2025 from complications of a hip fracture.

JoAnne is survived by her husband, Phillip West, son James West (Brittney), grandsons Mason, Leven, and Dane, sister Barbara (Jack) Frost, nephew Mark and nieces Nichole and Danielle Frost in Bozeman, Montana, and brother Moses Cisneros in McMinnville, Oregon.

A memorial service will be held at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, 5301 Ponderosa Avenue NE in Albuquerque, at 2:00 pm on Saturday, September 6, 2025.