JoAnn Fletcher

JoAnn Catherine (Klomp) Fletcher, 76, passed away peacefully on May 20, 2014 at St. Elias Specialty Hospital in Anchorage due to complications following cardiac surgery. JoAnn lived for 45 years in Fairbanks and was preceded in death by her late husband, Gordon.

JoAnn was born on Oct. 8, 1937 in Chicago, Ill. to Helen and Harry Klomp. She grew up on a farm in Spokane Valley, Wash. and graduated from Otis Orchards High School. JoAnn attended Eastern Washington University before heading north to Alaska for new adventures.

On a frigid night in Jan. 1969, JoAnn's car broke down on First Avenue in Fairbanks. She walked into The Past Time Bar looking for help and walked out with her future husband, John "Gordon" Fletcher. JoAnn and Gordon spent the pipeline boom days travelling to Afognak Island, wintering in Whitehorse and homesteading in Ester before making their permanent home north of Fairbanks. There they would raise two children, which JoAnn described as "the best accomplishment of my life."

JoAnn was a full-time homemaker for most of her life, but also worked as a bookkeeper and bus attendant for special-needs students. She was involved for over four decades in several volunteer service organizations, most notably Epsilon Sigma Alpha, the Elks Lodge and a member of Loyal Order of Moose since January 1st 1967.

She enjoyed painting, ceramics, berry picking, halibut fishing and cheering her favorite football team, the Seattle Seahawks. Her favorite expression came from poet William Arthur Ward, who wrote: "a cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition."

JoAnn was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her older brother, Fred Klomp of Post Falls, ID; and her younger sister, Sylvia Clift of Coeur d'Alene, ID.

She is survived by her son, Jack, his wife Jillian, and their newborn son Jackson, of Trinidad, Colo.; her daughter Sabrina and wife Melissa of Beckley, W. VA.; her older brother, Johnny Klomp and his wife Beverly of Liberty Lake, Wash.; and numerous other family and friends throughout Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, May 28 at 6 p.m. at the Farthest North Moose Lodge 1392, 98 Tenth Ave, in Fairbanks. All are welcome to attend. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of JoAnn Fletcher to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital online at www.stjude.org and Moose Heart at www.moosecharities.org.