JoAnn Virginia Pollard, 87

JoAnn Virginia Pollard, 87, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, in Sandpoint, Idaho.

JoAnn was born on Oct. 9, 1929, in Melbourne, Ark. Growing up during the Great Depression in rural Arkansas, JoAnn found that the simplest things could bring joy and fun. Despite the hard times, she described her childhood as good, running around with her older brothers Selden and Norman, sisters Mary and Ruth, building toys out of blocks of wood and found materials. Her parents Baxter Rebecca and William T. Jennings instilled a joy of reading, education and music in their children.

Graduating from Texarkana High School at the top of her class, JoAnn left Arkansas for her adventure in the world — starting with a road trip across the country to Los Angeles, back at a time when that was still a big deal. After working her summer as an usher at a movie theater in LA, she attended college at Western State College in Gunnison, Colo., so that she could enjoy the snow and skiing.

JoAnn married Welton (Pete) Pollard in 1953. Following marriage, the Pollards lived in Denver, Egnar (go ahead and try finding that on the map), back to Denver, and finally settling down in Rangely, Colo. While raising three sons (Lee, Bill, and Bob) in this small town, JoAnn worked first for the local newspaper, the Times, then for the community college.

In 1970, the family moved to Morgan Hill, Calif. JoAnn was always working — first at the Morgan Hill Times, then Country Printers, followed by a series of businesses in Silicon Valley. She was active in politics most of her life. Through this all, family was the center of JoAnn’s world. Any minute not spent working was time spent supporting her children — shuttling them to sports practices, swim meets, and school activities. Her sons’ friends continued to drop by to visit years after the boys had moved on. Any holiday became an excuse for gatherings with friends and family — Fourth of July parades with a “dropping” contest, Easter picnics — to name a couple.

Extended family Christmas parties grew to include a large group and became the test of future spouses (Erica, Rolanda, and Rosie) for her boys — if you could handle a family Christmas party, you were going to be OK.

After the kids left home, JoAnn loved to travel around the country, with meticulously planned trips with her sister Mary (and her husband Ken), soon to be joined by the other sister Ruth (and her husband Dave). Journeys to New England, the East Coast, and the South were followed with tales of the places they had seen and misadventures ­— “turn left, no the other left!”

Then she became GRANDMA. Starting with Shelley, then Jenny, Elijah, Jaryd, Sequoyah, Austyn, Nate, Bowyn, Baxter, Talyn, and finally, Colby; Grandma became the greatest supporter of a growing crowd of little ones. Need a baby sitter? Call Grandma. Someone to pick the grandkids up from school? Grandma. She took them to activities, classes, birthday parties, you name it. She spend thousands of hours talking with them on the phone. And finally, this last year, she became GREAT, with the birth of her first great-grandson, Frank.

JoAnn loved playing the piano, working the New York Times’ Sunday crossword puzzle, drinking red wine (preferably Two Buck Chuck with an ice cube) and spending time with her children and grandchildren. She will be missed.

Lakeview Funeral Home in Sandpoint is handling the arrangements. Please visit JoAnn’s online memorial at www.lakeviewfuneral.com and sign her guest book.